Plans to build a new technical education center near 31st and Haskell streets have landed a new tenant that will make the area a one-stop shop for job seekers.

Leaders with the Dwayne Peaslee Technical Training Center announced Friday that the Lawrence Workforce Center has signed a deal to move from its South Iowa Street location and into space at the technical training center.

“It is a big shot in the arm for the project,” said Hugh Carter, the Lawrence chamber of commerce executive who is overseeing startup efforts at the technical center.

The Lawrence Workforce Center currently is located in the retail shopping center near 26th and Iowa streets that includes the First Watch restaurant and several other retailers. The workforce center helps people conduct job searches, improve resumes, access career counseling and provides assistance to people who are looking to change careers and need some technical training to do so.

David Brennan, executive director of the private nonprofit company that runs the center, said being in the same building with a technical training center would make the process easier for all involved.

“We just think it makes a lot of sense to have so many services in one location,” Brennan said. “They’ll be able to easily look for work while they are in the training program.”

The Lawrence Workforce Center is operated by the nonprofit Heartland Works, which receives federal funding to provide services as part of the federal Workforce Investment Act. In addition to providing free services to job seekers, the center also works directly with employers to host job fairs and to provide other such services.

The center plans to take about 5,000 square feet in the 77,000 square-foot building at 2920 Haskell Ave., which formerly housed Honeywell Avionics. The building, which was purchased by the Economic Development Corp. of Lawrence and Douglas County, already has a 15,000 square-foot lease with HiPer Technologies, which has its manufacturing operations at the site. The two leases will help provide operating income to the Peaslee Center, Carter said.

Classes are scheduled to begin in August at the Peaslee Center. Initial programs will focus on manufacturing technology, automotive technology and construction trades. Carter said he hopes remodeling work on the technical training center will begin in March. But first the center will seek $500,000 in funding from both the city and county commissions to help with the renovation costs. The Economic Development Corp. also is planning to provide $200,000 in construction funding.

Work to begin remodeling the space for the Lawrence Workforce Center will begin much sooner. The center hopes to be operating at the new location by late April. It will remain open at its South Iowa location in the meantime.

Construction work also is underway on the Lawrence public school district’s College and Career Center, which will be next door to the Peaslee Center and will focus on providing technical education to high school students. The Peaslee Center will focus more on post-high school technical training.