The school started because the St. Joe Mining Company needed qualified electricians. Dean Smithmier, former director of UniTec Career Center, said the trade school was the first school of its kind in Missouri. The school opened its doors in 1943 and since then has operated under several names: Lead Belt Trade School, Lead Belt Vocational School, Lead Belt Area Vocational Technical School, and finally the UniTec Career Center beginning in 1993. The school is actually the culmination of movements and forces dating back to World War II, namely the War Production Training in Flat River and the National Youth Administration in Bonne Terre. After those centers met their obligations, the training equipment in Flat River was moved to the Bonne Terre facility in order to set up the facility for a potential training site. Area superintendents and businessmen had the foresight to make it the first organized area vocational school in the state even before the passage of the major Federal Vocational Education Act of 1963 and 1968. The first course offerings were auto mechanics, welding, building trades, machine shop, motor winding, radio repair and electricity.