TEMECULA: Motorcycles, BBQ to mark opening of education center

The rumble of motorcycles and the smell of BBQ will mark the grand opening of the Temecula Higher Education Center.

The free event, which will allow business leaders and future students to check out the new facility, is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the old City Hall building, 43200 Business Park Dr.

The center is located on the second floor of the building, the same structure that houses the Temecula Valley Entrepreneur’s Exchange, a city-backed business incubator.

The city is leasing the second-floor space for $1 a year to Mt. San Jacinto College, which is partnering with California State University, San Marcos, and offering classes there.

Karin Marriott, a Mt. San Jacinto College spokeswoman, said the target audience for the grand opening event is business leaders, business owners, parents of high school students and the students themselves.

According to college officials, the partnership will allow a “seamless transition” from an associate’s degree to a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

“Students interested in business administration and elgible for college-level English and math will be the first to take advantage of the new program beginning in fall 2014,” according to a release.

Marriott said all the classes for the program will be offered in the center, sparing students a commute. It also should provide a strong value, she said, because tuition for students will be locked in and they will be guaranteed the ability to graduate in four years.

Students who sign up will move through the coursework at the same time, giving them a chance to study together and help each other out.

“They build bonds and teams and work together through the program,” she said.

The event kicks off at 8 a.m. Saturday, when motorcycle riders participating in the 5th Annual Mt. San Jacinto College Foundation Scholarship Motorcycle run will gather at the San Jacinto campus for a continental breakfast.

From there, the riders will take a scenic route to the education center, where they will receive a BBQ lunch, which is covered by the riders’ donation to the fundraiser. Non-riders who show up for the grand opening event should eat beforehand or prepare to pay for the BBQ.

For more information visit msjc.edu/CSUSMbusiness or call 951-487-3409.

The first floor of the building, which served as the city’€™s hub of governmental operations from 1996 to 2010, was converted into a business incubator in late 2012

According to city documents, the center will be offering courses and programs that satisfy transfer requirements for four-year schools, vocational and technical programs, basic skills and English-as-a-second-language programs and continuing education programs and classes.

Cal. State San Marcos opened a Temecula satellite campus on the eastern side of the city in 2008, the same year MSJC opened the Temecula Education Complex on Enterprise Circle West, a business park on the western side of town.

TEMECULA: Motorcycles, BBQ to mark opening of education center