NEW CASTLE — Butler County Community College will upgrade its presence in central Pennsylvania with a new location, BC3 @ Brockway, with the first classes there slated for fall 2013.

This project was discussed Wednesday when the BC3 board met at BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing in Lawrence County.

The Brockway location in Elk County will be housed in the former administrative offices of Brockway Glass, a two-story building that it will share with Manchester Bidwell Corp., which provides trade skill training.

Manchester Bidwell already has begun renovating its part of the building, while BC3 plans to begin renovations in January to its side of the building, covering about 16,000 feet “with the expectation that all will be done and ready for opening in August,” said BC3 spokeswoman Susan Chagnon.

The new Brockway location will be funded and maintained by an annual $500,000 grant from the state Department of Education.

BC3 has operated in the Brockway area for more than two years, initially expanding to offer classes there, mostly through online programs, due to a grant from the Education Consortium of the Upper Allegheny.

Those classes had been known as BC3 @ Upper Allegheny, but they didn’t have a building to call home.

“As we have spoken to people there who have taken classes, they want more. They want a ‘home base’ location,” Chagnon said.

“We probably would not have gone forward with this without the funding. We are being asked to provide more classes there and the next logical step was to procure a space.”

Currently, BC3 students in Brockway meet with BC3 staff or do schoolwork at the Jefferson-Dubois Area Vocational Technical School, known as “Jeff-Tech.” Jeff-Tech also houses the office of Jill Martin Rend, director of the location for BC3.

The new location will serve students in Jefferson, Clearfield, Clarion and Elk counties, whose post-secondary education options in the area have been limited to University of Pittsburgh’s Bradford campus and Penn State University’s Dubois campus.

Chagnon said a building in Brockway will allow for science labs and more involved curricula.

“Part of our strategic initiative is to look at expansion,” said BC3 President Nick Neupauer.

He also expects the $500,000 state operating grant to be an annual stipend under the state’s regional community college line item.

“Frankly, it speaks to the relationships we have with our elected officials,” Neupauer said.

The official announcement of the Brockway location on Nov. 13 will be attended by state Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-25th, who has pushed for the BC3 @ Brockway funding, and Diane Bozak, executive director for the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges.

The advisory board for the Brockway location, composed of community leaders from the area, had its first meeting Sept. 13 with 16 members.

“We’re getting a lot of support up there,” Chagnon said.

“Since the state doesn’t support any new community colleges, we are being approached to expand. Brockway really is in line with the other ways we’ve grown.”

BC3 has its main campus in Butler Township and has classes in Cranberry Township. It also has BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing in Lawrence County, and its Lindenpointe location in Mercer County.