Central Christian College of Kansas (CCCK) held a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday, Oct. 2 for the new manufacturing training center that will house the Bradbury School of Manufacturing and Innovation (BSMI).
During the ceremony, CCCK President Dr. Lenny Favara described the occasion as the recognition of something that has been taking shape for over the last year.
“We’re standing on ground where walls have not been raised yet, where equipment has not yet really been delivered, and where students have not yet gathered,” Dr. Favara said. “And yet, in another sense, a great deal has already been done. Relationships have been built, a vision has been shaped, ideas have been refined, they’ve been challenged, they’ve been strengthened, and partnerships have been formed. And most important, especially in this relationship, trust has been built.”
According to Dr. Favara, the new center will be a two-level manufacturing education center built around a state-of-the-art machining floor, equipped with CNC and manual machining. It will include a dedicated space for precision measurement and inspection, mechatronics, robotics, CAD/CAM instruction, additive manufacturing, 3D printing, as well as flexible classrooms, faculty offices, and space for student collaboration.
Students will also be able to look down from the second level onto the machine shop floor, which Dr. Favara noted, is an important feature in the design of the program.
“Learning here, at least in this center, will not be separated into theory over there and practice somewhere else,” Dr. Favara said. “The classroom and the shop floor are meant to remain in conversation with each other.”
Dr. Favara stated that one of the most exciting parts of this project is the potential to become a regional resource.
Not only will it be a learning environment for high school students, but college students, adult learners, and current employees coming to develop new skills and abilities.
Dr. Favara said he also envisions manufacturers partnering with the college to make sure that they are preparing people for real work experience.
Being a college deeply rooted in faith, Dr. Favara also shared a deep Biblical precedent with the project.
“I go back to the book of Exodus, where God, in instructing the people of Israel to start building the tabernacle, calls upon a craftsman to take leadership, a person who is described as being full of wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and all kinds of skills,” Dr. Favara said. “Later, the Text says that God has given the craftsman the ability to do all kinds of work.”
Dr. Favara described the language as striking because Scripture doesn’t treat skilled work secondary to intellectual or spiritual formation.
“For us, the ability to design, build, measure, create, solve problems, and work skillfully with one’s hands is presented as a gift worthy of God’s cultivation,” Dr. Favara said. “That is part of what we’re reclaiming here. We want students who can think deeply, work skillfully, who understand both the why and the how, and who recognize the excellence in one’s craft. That ultimately it can be an expression of stewardship, service, and faithfulness.”
Dr. Favara added that philosophy has always been about more than learning a trait or mastering a tool.
“It’s about bringing together knowledge, skill, character, and purpose,” he stated. “It’s about understanding that meaningful education should not only prepare people to know something, but also to do something well, to contribute something of value, and to be the kind of people others can trust and depend on, and that matters today, especially in the manufacturing world.”
Dr. Favara shared about how the project came to fruition.
“Long before I even knew anything about manufacturing, The Bradbury Family Foundation had already begun to imagine what could be possible,” Dr. Favara said. “Folks like David and Diana Bradbury were already exploring how they might leave a legacy, not by building a building, though we’re certainly thankful for that, but by igniting a synergistic fusion between education, manufacturing, and character formation.”
Throughout that process, Favara added that the Bradburys have done more than support the project from afar.
“Their generous spirit has been experienced far beyond just the monetary expression, because each member of the Bradbury Family Foundation has also invested time, energy, imagination, and wisdom,” Dr. Favara said.
Dr. Favara credited the Bradbury Family Foundation Chair Diana Bradbury to being a “driving force” who has made this moment possible.
“Through her partnership, this dream is taking shape day by day,” he stated. “She [Diana] has encouraged it. She has questioned it. She has strengthened it. She has fought for it, and has helped us continue moving this possibility toward reality.”
On behalf of Central Christian College, the CCCK Board, and the McPherson Community,
Dr. Favara expressed his gratitude to the Bradbury Family Foundation, and to David and Diana Bradbury.
“To you specifically, Diana, for your dedication, for your trust, and a willingness to partner,” Dr. Favara continued. “Your vision, your generosity, your persistence, and your partnership have been central to the journey that has brought us here today.”
“Today we break ground for the Bradbury School of Manufacturing and Innovation. We are doing much more than constructing or building,” Diana Bradbury said. “We’re planting seeds like the sculpture that will be erected in front of the campus…The Sower.”
Bradbury referred to a plan CCCK has to construct a five-foot bronze sculpture of a “Sower” at the center of the campus. The sculpture will stand on a three-foot limestone base, with one hand extended, scattering seed, to represent Jesus’ Parable of the Sower. The project was suggested during a visit from the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA).
“Jesus reminds us that when seeds fall on good soil, it takes root and grows, and it produces a harvest far greater,” Bradbury said. “That is our hope and our prayer for the BSMI. Through our partnership with Central Christian College of Kansas, we are planting seeds of knowledge, skill, opportunity, character, and faith in the lives of our young people. We may not know today exactly where each of those seeds will lead, but we believe that planted in good soil and faithfully nurtured, they can produce a remarkable harvest.”
Bradbury added that some students who walk through the doors will discover talents they never knew they had.
“They will learn the dignity of skilled work, develop abilities that can provide people with their families, and become craftsmen, technicians, innovators, leaders, entrepreneurs, or community students,” Bradbury said. “Our vision is larger than simply preparing students for a job. We want to prepare them for a life of purpose.”
Dr. Favara told Ad Astra News that the project started with the Bradbury Family Foundation coming to CCCK and saying, “Hey, would you think about taking this on? We want to teach young people about manufacturing and some career choices.”
He added that McPherson is a regional hub and as a college, he felt that there was a responsibility, to not just serve the interests of the college, but the community as well, and that the McPherson Development Committee is also looking at getting more industries in the McPherson area and in the region.
“That begs the question, ‘Well where are the workers coming from?’ Dr. Favara asked, adding, “Because how can an industry move unless there’s skilled workers.”
Dr. Favara also told Ad Astra News that the project is right up the college’s alley, with shared values and the college also has a history with industrial education.
“Though for a while machines have been quiet on campus, so this is kind of a resurgence to a thing that was really really important to us,” Dr. Favara said. “We just look forward to serving the local community, to help high school students, to make a connection we wouldn’t normally be able to make, and then of course to provide opportunities for further education.”
Diana provided Ad Astra News with some background to the Bradbury Family Foundation.
“My husband and I, we have a foundation that is designated to do ‘God works’,” she said. “We had thought about it for a long time, what we wanted to invest in. Sometimes God will speak to you through the things that are about your life and what we started to see in our company was the lack of young people with skilled trades and with good Biblical values in their life. We also saw that a lot of kids were floundering because they had no purpose.”
Bradbury shared that they felt like God put it upon their heart to be able to teach the hard skills, but also the soft skills that they call ‘Biblical skills’ to help young people have successful lives.
“We’ve been blessed with fabulous employees that brought that to the company and made the company what it is and we wanted to be able to leave that as a legacy, not only for our company but for other companies and for the area,” Bradbury said. “I made a trip on a snowy day in January a year and a half ago and never met Lenny, really never been on campus, but knew that the location and the Godliness of the campus, we knew that that’s where God was leading us for this partnership and fortunately they saw the same vision we did.”
Bradbury added that they are looking forward to the fruition of their efforts and feel that God has blessed the project/partnership.
“God has provided great people in our lives that believe in this vision,” Bradbury said. “We’re working together and we see kids in the area, we’re already doing some recruiting and they’re very excited about the hands-on skills. We’re just glad to be able to bring that to the community and improve lives.”
Dr. Favara said that the next step of the project is to begin excavation in the next couple of weeks.
“The idea is to try to get the foundation and of course we are using a manufactured building. Which is part of a nod to the fact that manufacturing is the one that is producing these kinds of things,” Dr. Favara said. “We’re super excited about that.”
The college already has their first inaugural class, but students are currently working out of a back room lab.
The goal is to have the doors of the BSMI center open and all the equipment to come in around June or July before the start of the 2027 school year.
