Waukesha County Technical College is literally building on its AI ambitions. On Tuesday, the college officially broke ground on a 12,200-square-foot second-floor addition to its Applied AI Lab at the Pewaukee campus, a project leaders say will tighten the loop between student training and real-world industry work. Another 720 square feet is being added on the main floor for stairwells and an elevator, with construction slated to wrap in spring 2027. More than 80 donors, business leaders and local officials showed up to watch the ceremonial shovels hit the dirt.
What the new floor will include
Plans for the new upper level call for modern tech classrooms, collaborative workspaces, a student lounge and a dedicated “pitch pit” for entrepreneurial presentations, where students can road-test ideas alongside startups and corporate partners. According to Waukesha County Technical College, the original Applied AI Lab opened in fall 2024, and once the expansion is complete, the college plans to move its AI, data and information-technology programs into the enlarged facility.
Who paid for it
The second-floor buildout is the product of a multi-year fundraising effort that kicked off with a $1 million lead gift from the Harry V. Quadracci family’s Windhover Foundation and wrapped with a $2 million leadership gift from the PPC Foundation in fall 2025, which includes naming rights, as reported by The Freeman. College officials say that donor support closed the remaining funding gap and pushed the second-floor concept from the drawing board into active construction.
During the groundbreaking, WCTC President and CEO Rich Barnhouse thanked donors and staff before staking out an ambitious goal, saying, “Construction begins later this month, and we intend for WCTC and Waukesha to be the hub in AI.” Representing the Windhover Foundation, Joel Quadracci added that “it’s amazing how [WCTC] continues to morph the needs of the community around us,” praise the college has leaned on in its pitch to additional industry partners. The remarks were shared by Waukesha County Technical College.
Zimmerman Architectural Studios is leading design work on the project, while Corporate Contractors, Inc. will serve as general contractor. The fundraising campaign also lined up named spaces sponsored by businesses including Inpro, Eaton, Waukesha State Bank, the Petcoff Foundation, Trace-A-Matic and We Energies, according to The Freeman. Campus leaders say lab programming will continue throughout construction, with activities temporarily shifted to other spaces across campus as needed.
The Applied AI Lab already does more than host classes. It serves as a home base for accelerator programming through a partnership with gener8tor, and WCTC leaders say the expansion is designed to scale that startup support alongside degree pathways. Gener8tor runs gALPHA and gBETA sessions at the lab that connect early-stage companies and student projects to regional employers and investors, according to gener8tor.
Officials are framing the construction as a workforce pipeline play: with more hands-on AI training on campus, local businesses get quicker access to job-ready talent while students gain industry-facing experience long before graduation. With construction under way, WCTC says the added second floor is expected to deepen the college’s role as a regional hub for applied AI once the doors open next spring.
