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OTTUMWA, IOWA -- The Wapello County Job Corps project is gaining momentum.  

The site, which is located by the Ottumwa Regional Airport, will eventually hold eight buildings.

It will be a place where at-risk youth can get their high school diploma or receive additional training that will help them enter the workforce.

"We have a growing number of at-risk youth. An Iowa State researcher identified 128,000 people in Iowa between the ages of 16 and 24 that are identified as at-risk, primarily for economic reasons. Those are all young people that are susceptible to falling behind," said IHCC President Jim Lindenmayer.

Indian Hills Community College is a key player in the Job Corps project.

Lindenmayer told KTVO that nine bids were received from general contractors to build the Job Corps Center.

Eight of them came in lower than the architect's estimate.

Bids will be awarded in early June. The ground-breaking event will be held soon after.

The center is federally funded and owned by the Department of Labor. It will open in 2010, and will be the second of its kind in the state.