CR News
CR to get $2.5 million to develop 12 new programs
By
Feb 2, 2009, 15:35

EUREKA — Two years after the release of the Humboldt County-led industry and workforce study Targets of Opportunity, a $2.5 million action plan to deliver necessary education to further build a skilled regional workforce has been set in motion.

The Humboldt County Workforce Investment Board recently received word that their plan to invest in workforce infrastructure and education—derived from the Targets of Opportunity report—will be funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. The regional action plan is called the Redwood Coast Training for Opportunity Project (RC-TOP).

The $2.5 million Community-Based Job Training Grant to Humboldt County was part of $123 million awarded recently for community colleges around the country by the Department of Labor.

“We’re actually receiving $523,360 more than our application requested,” said 3rd District Supervisor Mark Lovelace, who takes over on the WIB for his predecessor, John Woolley. “The quality of the Targets data and our regional collaboration made our region a good investment for public funds.” The additional funds will be used for equipment and capacity building that had been trimmed from the project.

Humboldt County is receiving the third largest grant awarded in the nation, and the largest one awarded to a California region, out of the six funded in the state, including Humboldt County, Los Angeles Harbor College, and Los Rios, Peralta, San Mateo, San Bernardino community college districts. Introduced by President Bush in his 2004 “State of the Union” address, Community-Based Job Training Grants improve the ability of community colleges to provide their regions’ workers with the skills needed to enter growing industries.

In Humboldt County these funds will be used to create 12 new certification and Associates of Science programs College of the Redwoods for careers in the six Target of Opportunity industry clusters, which are growing in terms of jobs, earning potential and new companies.

“These programs will train people for green jobs in growing industries. They will go a long way toward answering North Coast employers’ demand for upgraded skills in the workforce regionally,” said Lovelace.

The new training programs will provide Redwood Coast residents opportunities for meeting certification requirements that currently are not available within a 300-mile radius.

The new certifications will focus on careers in solar photovoltaic and thermal hot water installation, electrical, welding, water and wastewater treatment operation, physical therapy assisting, medical assisting, emergency medical technician and paramedic medicine, and management and supervision.

Jacqueline Debets, Executive Director of the Humboldt County Workforce Investment Board who wrote the grant application, said, “This is the result of several years of strategic focus for the WIB. It’s an ideal match between what the WIB identified as strategic needs for the region, and what DOL wanted to fund.” She added that that the plan will target dislocated workers, and use distance learning online courses for resident Native American tribal members and the prison populace of Pelican Bay State Prison.

For CR, this infusion of funding and innovation, coming at a time when California education budgets are being slashed, is a big boost of confidence for its programming and speaks volumes to their desire to be a community partner.

“We have used the Targets of Opportunity as the cornerstone of our new draft Educational Master Plan. We have been able to use this information to make data-driven decisions when developing new programs to meet the needs of our community for better-paying jobs and economic development.” said CR President Jeff Marsee.

“For instance, we see that there is an acute need for water and wastewater treatment operators, and those jobs start at $50,000 a year,” explained Dr. Marsee. “So we are fast-tracking that program to start this fall.”

The County Community Development Services Department has been working with the more than 350 wastewater and distribution systems in Humboldt County to build an association that will address common needs. “California Regional Water Quality Control Board requires all of them to have certified operators,” said John Miller of the department. “So the group’s first initiative was to create a training program, and we’re thrilled to receive such support from CR and this grant.”

State-certified level I operators earn $50-60,000 a year in a rural operation. Operators can advance to level 5 with an Associate of Science degree and can command salaries in excess of $100,000.

Pelican Bay State Prison, for instance, has an award-winning waste water treatment plant. Inmates can work in the plant, take the courses using the Interactive TV classroom and be qualified for a living-wage job when they are released from prison.

“This targeted approach is an excellent way to maximize the impact on job creation by focusing our limited public resources on training for jobs that we know are needed both now and in the near future,” said CA State Senator, Patricia Wiggins as she commended the WIB, CR and the Job Market on their collaboration.

The CR programs

By the end of the 2011-2012 academic year, it is estimated that approximately 700 students will earn one of the new or expanded certificate or degrees.

“One of the most critical needs we’ve experienced over the last 10 to 15 years is for people with appropriate management skills,” said Cedar Reuben, CEO of HealthWare Solutions, a software company in Arcata, and Chairman of the WIB. “A program to train people in management skills, ranging from front line supervisor all the way through mid-level and upper level management roles would be extremely valuable in our region.”

The CR Management and Supervision certificate will be a 16-week certification program that will include applied internships with regional businesses and be available to both full-time and part-time, working students through CR’s Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, starting in summer of 2010.

For the Building and Systems Construction and Maintenance target industry, CR will deliver the North American Board of Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) certificate programs in solar photovoltaic and solar thermal installation, both expected to be among the fastest growing green careers in the state. The new electrical certificate will enable students to become licensed electricians locally, starting in January of 2010. The nearest electrical certification programs are currently in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“For instance, we now have 12 workers who were laid off from Evergreen Pulp in training to be electricians with support from the WIB,” said Debets. “When the training program is set up next year, they will be able to advance their skills locally, not have to travel, which will spread the funding to more people.”

As the Baby Boom generation ages, the demand for health care workers of all kinds continues to expand, providing well-paying jobs. A Physical Therapy Assisting certificate will enable graduates to work in a field projected to be one of the top 50 fastest-growing occupations. CR already offers a medical assisting certificate, but an expanded one will make students qualified to do medical scheduling, billing and records keeping – an acute need on the North Coast.

CR will also offer a paramedic certificate and a paramedic to registered nurse bridge associate of science degree. Paramedics will be able to become physician’s assistants and eventually registered nurses, greatly enhancing their income and meeting community need.

Another $4,453,750 in leveraged resources will support training for dislocated workers and employed people wanting to upgrade their skills. “The grant is designed to use the existing training funds in the workforce system, as well as some local funds for scholarships,” explained Debets. St. Joseph’s Hospital System will provide approximately $15,000 in scholarships and tuition reimbursement for their employees who want to upgrade their skills.

The new certificate and/or degree programs CR will initiate with this grant:
For Building & Systems Construction & Maintenance:
• Electrical certificate
• Welding certificate
• Solar photovoltaic installation certificate
• Solar thermal installation certificate
• Water treatment and distribution certificate
• Wastewater treatment certificate
• Water and Wastewater treatment systems Associate of Science Degree

For Diversified Health Care:
• Physical Therapy Assisting Associate of Science Degree
• Medical Assisting expansion into records, billing and scheduling certificate
• Paramedic certificate
• Paramedic to Registered Nurse Associate of Science Degree

For all Targets of Opportunity:
• Management & Supervision certificate

For more information, see the following websites:
• Targets and Occupations of Opportunity Reports: www.HumboldtWIB.com
• US Dept of Labor news release: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/eta20090068.htm
• National Association of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP): http://www.nabcep.org/
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