Ribbon Cut at Northwest Ranger Center and New Church Road Entrance at DeSoto Center

by Sarah Smith

Senatobia, MS (07/14/2025) — Northwest Mississippi Community College celebrated the opening of the Ranger Center, the college's newest building at the DeSoto Center which boasts 42,000-square feet of instructional space, conference meeting areas, and study spaces, as well as the Church Road entrance to the college on Tuesday, June 26.

The new entrance allows for greater visibility and accessibility from one of Southaven's major roads and is a direct path to the newest facility, the Ranger Center.

This new space allows for growth of various programs that support a vibrant and growing workforce in Mississippi. This further aids Northwest's strategic plan "Achieving Success" which focuses on the four tenants of instructional success, institutional success, personal success, and community success.

Primarily, it houses an in-demand Registered Nursing (RN) program where it had previously never been offered. This will also serve as a regional testing center with 31 stations (including ADA accessible testing), and three flexible classrooms with 96 seats.

This new center also provides new workforce training, Career-Technical Education (CTE) programs, professional testing and community engagement initiatives opportunities.

This project was funded by the Economic Development Administration which gave $7 million, the State of Mississippi which awarded $3 million, and the DeSoto County Board of Supervisors which gave $1 million.

"Achieving this level of funding allows for the college to further its mission and values to continuously improve, transform students' lives, enrich our communities, and strive for excellence," said Jeff Horton, Northwest's vice president of Administration and Finance. "Our teams who have worked tirelessly have once again proven their commitment to excellence. In particular, the teams who worked on this include our Northwest Construction Management team and Information Technology team, as well as our external teams Allen & Hoshall, INC., and Murphy & Sons Construction."

The progress this means for not only the college, but also for the community which it seeks to serve, cannot be overstated.

"This facility is a dream realized - not only for our college but for our entire community," said Dr. Michael J. Heindl, president of Northwest. "The Ranger Center offers flexibility, innovation, and access. It's a modern educational hub where students will gain the skills they need to succeed, and it's happening right here in DeSoto County."

DeSoto County representative on the Northwest Board of Trustees, Sturgis Monteith, reflected on the impact of this new facility saying that only a couple years ago him and his father-in-law were at the groundbreaking, and now Monteith has stepped into the role that once was filled by his father-in-law. At this event, they celebrated the gateway that this entrance and building represent not only into the college, but into the future.

"Facilities like this one, open doors to careers, confidence and community success," said Kell Smith, executive director of the Mississippi Community College Board.

Classes for the center's Associate Degree Nursing program began last spring and will continue this fall, and new CTE programs including Commercial/Residential Electrical are planned for future semesters. The center is also home to the Practical Nursing program at DeSoto.

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Photo by Dr. Andrew Dale, associate vice president of Community Relations More photos available: https://nwccimages.smugmug.com/Executive-Council-College-Leadership/2024-2025/Ranger-Center-1210-Church-Rd-Ribbon-Cutting/n-4P652J Photo credits to Carly Fox on these gallery images.

Northwest Mississippi Community College

Ribbon Cut at Northwest Ranger Center and New Church Road Entrance at DeSoto Center

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Northwest Mississippi Community College

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