Workforce Innovation Center
Opening January 2027
The Aims Workforce Innovation Center (AWIC) is a first-of-its-kind hub in Weld County where students, businesses, and entrepreneurs come together to innovate, learn, and grow.
A hub for immersive, hands-on learning
Part experiential learning laboratory, part innovation hub, and part technology showcase, the AWIC brings education and industry together in ways that prepare people for future careers, support business growth, and inspire innovation across Northern Colorado.
Students, faculty, community members, entrepreneurs and area businesses can access amenities including the AWIC's high-tech "Innovation Bays," gather in collaborative spaces and tap into a supportive professional network for startup and expanding businesses.
Aims has already signed the first industry resident for one of the three Innovation Bays: Alquist 3D, a national leader in 3D concrete printing that will use the Center for research and development.
Take a virtual flight through the AWIC. This state-of-the-art facility will connect learners, businesses, entrepreneurs and the broader community. From hands-on immersive learning labs to high-tech business innovation spaces, every square foot is built to adapt to the technologies of tomorrow.
Students & Learners
Learners gain hands-on experience with emerging technologies, collaborate with industry partners, build career-ready skills and explore future-focused industries.
Businesses & Industry
Businesses can access flexible innovation space, collaborate with students and faculty, connect with future talent, and accelerate business growth through shared resources and partnerships.
Entrepreneurs & Startups
Innovators can test ideas, access emerging technologies, collaborate with industry and education partners, and grow businesses in a future-focused innovation ecosystem
Community Members
The entire community is welcome to visit, discover emerging technologies, attend events and workshops, explore innovation in action, and participate in conversations about the future of work, learning, and industry.
The AWIC combines immersive learning environments, innovation spaces, and future-focused technology experiences designed to help people learn, collaborate and create.
Learn
XR Classroom
Featuring Dreamscape Learn technology, the XR Classroom transforms education into immersive learning adventures where students step inside virtual worlds to explore, collaborate, and solve problems.
XR Pod
A free-roam virtual reality environment where participants can walk, move, and interact naturally within shared virtual worlds.
Augmented & Immersive Learning Labs
Flexible technology-rich spaces where learners can experiment with emerging tools and discover new approaches to learning and problem-solving.
Presentation & Broadcasting Spaces
Professional content creation spaces for podcasting, video production, digital storytelling, and creative communication.
Innovate
Innovation Bays
Flexible workspaces equipped with advanced power, data infrastructure, and adaptable environments that support research, prototyping, testing, and business growth.
AWIC Cafe
A collaborative gathering place featuring a robot barista, AI-powered learning opportunities, and dedicated space for experimentation, creativity, and “vibe coding."”
Think Tank
A flexible collaboration space designed for brainstorming, workshops, startup pitches, innovation showcases, and future-focused discussions.
Meeting & Collaboration Spaces
Conference rooms, touchdown spaces, and open seating areas that encourage networking, mentorship, and collaboration.
Explore
Futures Lab
A collaborative environment focused on foresight, innovation, and understanding the trends shaping tomorrow's world.
Interactive Exhibits & Experiences
Hands-on exhibits, immersive simulations, and emerging technology demonstrations that connect innovation to real-world careers and industries.
This rendering showcases a conceptual AWIC Cafe, featuring a robotic barista preparing your favorite beverage.
This architectural profile highlights the facility's innovative construction, which marks the first Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) project for both Aims Community College and Weld County. The physical design embodies the center's mission to connect education, business, and innovation.
The west-facing exterior features expansive glass that maximizes natural light. The architecture is purposefully designed to create a dynamic, evolving environment that reflects a rapidly changing world.
This overhead site plan outlines the footprint of the new Aims Workforce Innovation Center (AWIC), a $25.5 million, 49,500-square-foot hub for talent, technology, and economic opportunity located on the Aims Greeley Campus. The site integrates sustainable features, including 56 geothermal bore holes that power the campus's first centralized ground source heat pump.
Located near the lower-level work areas, this break space allows students, faculty, and industry professionals to recharge and connect, reinforcing the collaborative community angle of the AWIC.
These expansive, adaptable workbays provide critical infrastructure for physical prototyping and technical training. Workbay 03, for example, is designed to allow the community to safely observe cutting-edge technology in action on a daily basis.
This area is designed for presentations, entrepreneurial pitches, and community foresight activities. Visitors traversing the building will naturally pass by this stage, maximizing exposure to the latest ideas and future-oriented discussions.
The mezzanine provides an elevated view of the lower-level activity, fostering a culture of innovation by creating visual connections and opportunities for serendipitous cross-pollination between different disciplines.
The AWIC features flexible touchdown spaces and open work areas, including cubicles and office space. These collaborative environments are designed to support startup companies and incubator tenants as they research, develop, and grow.
This professional boardroom provides a dedicated space for Aims leadership and regional industry partners to co-develop training, test new ideas, and shape workforce solutions together.
Functioning as the central nervous system of the AWIC, the expansive lobby is designed to maximize exposure to the center's core activities. Visitors can engage with digital exhibit kiosks and interactive data visualizations right from the moment they walk in.
The exterior access to the work bays allows for the seamless movement of large-scale equipment and industry projects. These bays are highly flexible and can be altered, combined, or segmented with dividers to meet the specific, changing needs of various industry tenants.
Explore the Innovation Bays
See the specs, dimensions, and scalable footprints of the state-of-the-art incubation workspaces designed to help you test bold ideas and build new technologies. These flexible work bays provide the essential power, data, and physical space necessary to safely operate high-tech machinery. You also gain access to a collaborative network of fellow entrepreneurs and emerging student talent right on campus. Discover how this environment adapts to support your specific industry needs and helps your business grow.
Amiri Ellington, a Project Engineer with Roche Constructors and an Aims Community College alumnus, brings his journey full circle by helping construct the new Aims Workforce Innovation Center (AWIC). Utilizing the skills he learned in the Aims construction management program, Amiri now helps coordinate the development of this forward-looking, high-tech facility. His hands-on work with the AWIC is a testament to how Aims graduates are actively shaping the future of the institution and community that helped build them.
The 49,500-square-foot facility is designed to evolve as technologies and workforce needs change.
From its conception, a vital goal was to have the physical spaces of the Aims Workforce Innovation Center reflect its purpose. That's why Aims is prioritizing sourcing U.S.-made, sustainability-forward materials and hiring local companies for design, materials sourcing and construction.
The building will have a geothermal mechanical system that harnesses the earth's internal energy for direct heating and cooling, powered by 500-foot-deep vertical wells. The structure also features more energy-efficient cross-laminated timber (CLT) from Alabama, electrical systems from Texas, and steel fabrication from Grand Junction, Colorado.
Denver-based OZ Architecture designed the Center and Roche Constructors of Greeley is serving as the general contractor. Roche Constructors regularly hires Aims construction management program students, including to help build the Center.
The future of Northern Colorado’s workforce is being built right now at the Aims Workforce Innovation Center (AWIC), and we want you in the driver’s seat.
Whether you are a local business owner looking for a state-of-the-art Innovation Bay, an industry leader ready to shape future curriculum, or a creator looking to host your next big showcase, the AWIC is your launchpad.
How do you want to innovate with us?
- Host an Event: Bring your meetings, tech showcases, or demos to life in our high-tech spaces.
- Become an Occupant: Explore office spaces or scale your R&D in an innovation bay.
- Hire Student Talent: Connect directly with motivated Aims students through internships and direct hiring.
- Share Your Expertise: Present, teach, or lead an upcoming workshop.
It only takes a minute to get connected. Tell us how you want to get involved, and let’s start building tomorrow, today.
The Aims Workforce Innovation Center is a big step forward for our region, and we want you to be part of it. Erin Fink Smith is your go-to resource for all things AWIC. If you want to know how you can stop reacting to the future and start shaping it with us, email us at AWIC@aims.edu!
