LITCHFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — Illinois is trying to give students a head start on finding work in the building and construction trades.

Governor JB Pritzker cut the ribbon on the South Central Illinois Training & Innovation Center on Monday, which is located about 40 miles south of Springfield in Litchfield.

It will give high school students an opportunity to train for certain jobs. The idea is for these students to get a boost so they are able to enter the work force more quickly when they graduate.

Officials in the region have been working on the facility for years, saying that it will be a model for the rest of the state.

“That’s good for us, but it’s also good for our communities, it’s good for our economic development,” said Charlotte Warren, president of Lincoln Land Community College. “It’s good to have people out there who are going to fill the jobs that you so desperately need them to fill.”

The facility will also be open to people who have lost their jobs and need to be trained in a new field to find work.