BOISE, Idaho — The College of Western Idaho says its new Micron Academic Building in downtown Boise is meant to do more than add classroom space. School leaders say the project expands access for students, supports workforce training, and gives CWI room to keep growing as demand rises across southwest Idaho.
CWI President Gordon Jones called the project a major moment for the college.
“Today is a really historic day for the College of Western Idaho,” Jones said. “We’re celebrating the investment from Micron in our new Micron Academic building right behind me here in downtown Boise.”
Jones said the new Boise site represents a major step for a college that now serves more than 34,000 students.
“This is the beginning of this campus node for this College of Western Idaho as we serve over 34,000 students and growing every year,” he said.
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The building is expected to house a mix of workforce and academic programs, including business, IT, cybersecurity, and adult education. Jones said the goal is to connect students with opportunities across the valley, whether that means jobs at Micron or elsewhere.
“The Micron Academic Building is 100,000 square feet of space that’s going to be supporting everything from workforce development programs that CWI has to some of our more academic business, IT, cybersecurity, and then adult education,” Jones said.
“Some of those jobs may be at Micron, they may be other employers around the valley, but it’s the investment of Micron that’s making this building possible,” he said.
Jones said Boise and Nampa now serve as CWI’s two main growth hubs as the college works to meet demand across the region.
“We serve the 10 counties in Southwest Idaho,” he said. “Like any community college at our size, over 34,000 students, we’ve got both a main campus in Nampa, and now this node here in downtown Boise.”
He said the long-term focus is on building learning spaces where the community needs them most.
“The future is to continue to develop the learning spaces that reflect the needs of our community, and right now, both Boise and Nampa are where we’re filling in and continuing to meet that growth,” Jones said.
Jones also said CWI’s relationship with Micron goes back to the college’s founding, and that Micron’s 2022 expansion announcement helped shape some of the school’s recent workforce planning.
“College of Western Idaho has been in a relationship with Micron since our founding,” he said. “We have the Micron Technical Center in Nampa.”
“When Micron announced their expansion here in 2022, I was able to participate in a convening of higher ed institutions where Micron really laid out what is the future, why is this important and what’s the growth mean for Idaho,” recalled Jones.
He said those conversations helped guide CWI’s work in mechatronics and apprenticeships tied to both Micron and the broader manufacturing sector.
“That’s guided a lot of our programs in mechatronics and apprenticeship programs that both serve Micron but also manufacturing of the future across our valley,” he said.
A Micron representative said the company began working with CWI early, before the Boise project broke ground, and viewed the college as an important partner in preparing future workers.
“Gordon Jones and his team immediately began strategizing,” she said.
The representative said that since those early conversations in 2022, CWI’s mechatronics enrollment has grown sharply, and the new downtown campus is expected to widen access for adult learners, veterans, career changers, and first-generation students.
“This new downtown Boise campus will broaden access for everyone, adult learners, veterans, career changers, first-gen students, helping people meet them where they are,” she said.
Micron said the investment is aimed not just at education, but at helping grow Idaho’s workforce and keeping more talent in the state.
“When we invest in community college, we’re investing in economic development, we’re investing in thriving communities, and we’re investing in all of our future,” the representative said.
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