Columbia Gas of Ohio has announced that it will build a new state-of-the-art training facility in Gahanna, Ohio.

The Gahanna training center will be located at 1600 Eastgate Parkway. Training at the new building will focus heavily on customer service, emergency response scenario training, and maintenance of existing distribution pipeline facilities.

The total investment in the new training facility is estimated at $38 million over 20 years. The total square footage of the indoor training facility is approximately 28,000 square feet. The new training center’s estimated completion date at this time is 2017.

The facility will also be used for new employee training, employees transitioning into higher-skilled positions and for annual refresher training for the existing workforce. Additionally, Columbia Gas will use the training center to safely familiarize employees with new equipment, materials, and technology along with introducing new work procedures and code requirements.

“The safety of our customers and employees is our number one priority,” said Columbia Gas of Ohio President Dan Creekmur. “We are committed to industry-leading safety standards and this facility will ensure the best training environment for our highly-skilled workforce.”

Once established, local first responders will be invited to utilize the new training facility as part of the Columbia Gas Safety School.