Columbia Gas of Virginia is building training facility

Columbia Gas of Virginia is building a $9 million, 22,000-square-foot training center next to  its Chesterfield County headquarters.

The center will be used by  Virginia Columbia Gas employees as they enter the company workforce or train to maintain their operator qualification certifications.

“This new training facility will employ technology and innovative training methods to support our focus on being an industry leader in safety and operational excellence,” Columbia Gas of Virginia President Brent Archer said in a statement. “By strengthening our training capacity, we can further elevate a culture of learning that strengthens and facilitates the growth and development of our employees which leads to better service for our customers.”

The facility, expected to open in late 2017, will include a classroom, simulation equipment, a mock neighborhood for natural gas leak investigation, outdoor backhoe training and controlled fire safety training.

The Virginia training center is one of four new facilities being constructed by NiSource, its parent company, in its seven-state region. The first facility opened outside of Pittsburgh in July.