Thursday, January 13, 2000
New center to provide work force training
BY ANDREA TORTORA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — Northern Kentucky businesses will receive personalized worker training and assessment this year from Northern Kentucky Technical College.
College staff will consult with companies to determine the skills employees need, and then design specific training, said Earl Whitrock, college president.
“We're really expanding,” Dr. Whitrock said. “And we're being real careful not to dupli cate what's already being offered.”
The new service comes from a partnership between Kentucky's technical and community colleges and a national testing firm to create 28 centers for work force training.
Northern Kentucky — through Northern Kentucky Technical College — will be one of the first regions in the state to develop a site, which will provide continuing education courses, online education, career counseling and computerized testing to individuals, businesses and organizations.
The program pairs ACT Inc., the nonprofit creator of the college placement exam, with the state's 28 community and technical schools. ACT Inc. also provides extensive services for work force development and is creating a national network of ACT Centers.
Kentucky is the first state to participate.
“Training services provided at the ACT Centers will boost Kentucky's economy by raising the skill levels of our workers,” said Michael McCall, president of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System.
“That is the mission of our system, to provide education and training to support economic development.”
The location of the Northern Kentucky center has not been determined, but it will likely work in conjunction with an assessment center already at Northern Kentucky Technical College, or at the college's Edgewood campus.
There will be four initial ACT Centers — in Bowling Green, Lexington, Louisville and Northern Kentucky. The first should open this year.
Tom Saterfiel, ACT Inc. senior vice president, said the centers will help people qualify for better jobs and will improve the ability of companies to do business.
The ACT Centers will offer these services:
• Workplace skills assessments.
• Continuing education courses in a variety of disciplines.
• Skill-specific training in selected fields.
• Distance learning with state-of-the-art technology.
• Computerized education and career-guidance counseling.
• Computer-delivered certification and licensure tests for the trades and professions.
Strengthening the technical training in any community makes it more marketable, said Danny Fore, president of the Tri-County Economic Development Corp.
“I'm not just talking about companies moving to the area, but also about companies already here that want to expand,” he said. “This is a great device to help grow the local economy that already exists.”
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