A Partnership for Progress

BFL Helps Pima JTED Best Serve its Students

By Rodney Campbell

In its 50 years of doing business, BFL Construction has delivered for many clients in the education sector. Count Pima JTED among its most satisfied.

Pima Joint Technical Education District offers tuition-free career and technical education to sophomores, juniors and seniors in Pima and parts of Pinal and Santa Cruz counties. Its needs are unique because its students are learning trades and earning credentials that vary from welding technology to veterinary sciences.

Through more than a decade of partnership, BFL understands what’s required to help Pima JTED succeed in serving its students, who help Southern Arizona as members of a skilled workforce.

“BFL’s quality of work has always and continues to be top notch, with careful attention to our needs and great customer service,” said Pima JTED Superintendent and CEO Kathy Prather.

BFL has assisted Pima JTED on a number of new buildings for its campus at East 22nd Street and Camino Seco as well as its campus at the Innovative Learning Center at The Bridges. BFL Founder and former CEO Garry Brav introduced public-private partnerships that allowed Pima JTED to afford new facilities without having to secure bonds or raise taxes.

For example, JTED entered into a lease-purchase agreement with the Bourn Companies and BFL to buy the land and buildings for the Innovative Learning Center, which opened in 2021. The building includes facilities for high-demand medical pathway programs, technical programs including cyber security and 3-D virtual reality game design, a commercial culinary and nutritional arts teaching kitchen and space for robotics, automation, manufacturing and mechatronics education.

“Garry had the vision to enable BFL to support the vision and mission of Pima JTED by finding innovative ways to form public-private partnerships,” Prather said. “That approach has allowed us to expand our ability to increase opportunities for all high school youth in our area to have access to state-of-the-art facilities to accompany the premier instructional delivery we offer.”

BFL is building the Mel and Enid Zuckerman Center for Health and Medical Careers at Pima JTED at the Bridges that will also include the Connie Hillman Family Foundation Community Health and Wellness Center and the Potoff Private Philanthropy Veterinary Sciences Center. Ground was broken on the building in May.

When it opens next year, the center will prepare students for careers in healthcare and medicine. The second addition to The Bridges campus will house classroom, laboratory and clinical space for a variety of programs, including Pima JTED’s licensed nursing assistant, medical assistant, public health and veterinary science programs.

The campus at 22nd and Camino Seco offers classes for students interested in cosmetology, fire service, law, public safety and security. Those interested in careers including emergency medical technician, licensed nursing assistant, medical assistant and physical therapy technician also take courses there.

The many facility improvements made in collaboration with BFL are completed with the goal of improving Pima JTED students’ experiences.

“The new facilities allow us to have the space and cutting-edge environment to deliver a high-quality, hands-on experience for our students,” Prather said. “Expansion of our facilities allows us to serve more students as our enrollment continues to grow more than 10% each year.”

BFL President David Eves, who started his position in late 2020, has stepped in to serve as a trusted ally for Pima JTED. Prather is happy to see the partnership continue to thrive and its students reaping the benefits.

“Our projects haven’t skipped a beat and we continue to work with many of the same terrific BFL team members on site,” she said.

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