San Bernardino Community College District Awarded $950K Workforce Development Grant

The Employment Training Panel (ETP), a state agency supported by business and labor, whose program is funded through the Employment Training Tax paid by California employers, has approved its fifth Agreement with the San Bernardino Community College District’s (SBCCD) Professional Development Center (PDC) to enhance local worker competitiveness for $949,962. This 24-month project is designed to serve 1,961 workers employed at large and small businesses in the Inland Region. The PDC is under the auspices of the SBCCD’s Economic Development and Corporate Training (EDCT) Division. John Longville, president of the Board of Trustees of the San Bernardino Community College District (SBCCD), said, “A major mission of the SBCCD is to stimulate the economic prosperity of the Inland Empire through workforce development, and this program exemplifies that goal. The intent of this ETP-sponsored project is to assist employers in developing high performance workplaces, improve job-specific skills, train employees in current technology and develop mechanical craft and welding skills for workers in high priority industries.” Chancellor Bruce Baron said, “The mission of the EDCT is to encourage stable employment in our communities and to support job growth as our economy improves. This proposal will serve large and small business with out-of-state competition. Staying competitive and keeping jobs here is one of our major concerns.” Dr. Matthew Isaac, associate vice chancellor and head of the EDCT, said, “EDCT programs continue to demonstrate that the local economic climate is well-served through quality retraining tailored to the individual employer and employee. This award was the product of the dedicated work of Robert Levesque, Director of Workforce Development and Deanna Krehbiel, EDCT Manager of Workforce Development.” Since its inception in 1983, the ETP program has provided approximately $1.35 billion to train more than 810,000 workers for more than 78,000 California companies. Employers match training funds awarded by ETP, making these projects true public-private partnerships. Approximately 65 percent of the proposed training will take place at employer worksites while the remaining 35 percent will be center-based at college facilities. Among the businesses receiving this training are: 3M, Amazon, Ardent Mills, Burlington Coat Factory, California Steel Industries, Converse, Cott Beverages, IHerb, KAD Paving, Landtec, Lynam Industries, Microdyne Plastics, Network Global Logistics, OHL, Payless, Plastic Plus Technology, Renovis Surgical Technologies, Sports Authority, TST Inc. and Winpak. Participating employees will be selected by their employer and will receive their full salary while attending class. In addition to keeping employees competitive in the now-global marketplace, the project helps employers who are looking to develop leadership skills in frontline workers, and to train employees to become more energy efficient, addressing these issues as well.