Bates Technical College will celebrate Veterans Day this year by hosting notable advocate Dr. Peter Schmidt, who will serve as the keynote speaker during an event entitled Building Bridges: It’s About You. The event will be followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony to unveil the recently-revamped Veterans Resource Center at the college’s downtown campus.

“With the drawdown of military service members, Bates is experiencing increased interest from veterans and their families seeking professional and technical skills,” said Bates Technical College Associate Dean of Instruction Blake Ingram. “We offer retraining in a manner that links well with military backgrounds. By opening our Veteran Resource Centers at the Downtown and South Campuses, we have done a great job providing support for this important transition.”

Dr. Schmidt, a veteran of the United States Air Force and Washington Air National Guard, is Project Director and trainer for the Veterans Training Support Center of the Center for Learning Connections at Edmonds Community College.

Bates Technical College’s Veterans Day events will be held on Thurs., Nov. 6, between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., at Bates Technical College, 1101 S. Yakima Ave., Downtown Campus Auditorium, in Tacoma. Veterans resource organizations, such as RallyPoint/6, will be on-hand to highlight their services and answer questions.

More information about Bates Technical College’s Veterans Resource Center is available online at bates.ctc.edu.