Northeast Regional Safety Academy and Vermont's Capital Conference Center
The Associated General Contractors of Vermont (AGCVT) unveiled the newly renovated Vermont Capital Conference Center (VCCC) in Montpelier on Wednesday, January 25.
The building also houses AGCVT's Northeast Regional Training Academy (NERSA), which has been operating for the past five years. The newly renovated facility still maintains the Academy training facility and has added more conference space to hold their growing training programs.
Newly renovated kitchen and bathroom facilities have been added, making the site fully equipped to handle AGCVT's programs, the expanded conference rooms and the revamped NERSA facility is used by contractors, public works officials, fire and other emergency responders.
NERSA is one of the most unusual facilities of its type in New England, with more than 10,000 square feet of training space filled with all kinds of safety apparatus and equipment. Dedicated on February 11, 2003, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring Vermont Governor Jim Douglas, the facility can provide safety training in many activities. These include heavy equipment operations, confined space rescue, concrete and masonry skills, electrical safety, fire responder, emergency management, respiratory protection, and power and hydraulic tool training.
The 2 classroom/conference rooms are equipped with surround sound, Internet capabilities, a Power Point projector, CD/DVD, cable, and seating capacity of 70 in each room.
Among the items available for safety training are a collection of power bench saws and drills, a crawler mini-excavator, a rubber-tired excavator, trench boxes, pipe lasers, mobile scaffolding, fall-protection gear, personal protective equipment, special suits for hazardous materials areas, rappelling harnesses and ropes, assembled concrete forms, and even a manhole for descending into a confined space area. A snakelike course of 24-inch to 36-inch black ADS plastic pipe provides the confined space.
NERSA has been a major asset in the safety training program of AGCVT, which has among the busiest agendas in the region, with as many as 20 training sessions scheduled in any month. Classes sponsored by the Chapter for its members cover a broad range of topics, among them first aid/CPR, erosion control, hazardous materials, confined spaces, ATTSA traffic technician, Vermont OSHA 10-hour, flag trainer, mine and quarry safety, respiratory protection, scaffold training, steel erection, fall protection, excavation safety, and mine and quarry safety. The latter include refresher courses for operators required by the Mine Safety & Health Act.
To obtain information about NERSA facilities and availability call the AGC/VT office in Montpelier at (802) 223-2374, e-mail info@agcvt.org.
Directions to Northeast Regional Safety Academy and Vermont's Capital Conference Center
It is located on Graves Street (that turns into Three Mile Bridge Road) in Montpelier. From interstate 89 you will take Exit 8. Take your third left onto Bailey Avenue to your next traffic light. At that light, you will turn left onto Route 2/ State Street. This will take you right past our office on Route 2 towards Middlesex, Three Mile Bridge Road is your first left off Route 2 (about 1 mile past the office). You will immediately go over a set of Railroad tracks and NERSA/VCCC is the first building on the right. Pull up to the roadside entrance.
