business backgrounder | education & workforce
across demographics, as the Job Skills Program particularly
targets veterans, women, minorities, and those without the
opportunity for higher education.
Triumph Structures, an Everett-based aerospace manufacturing and engineering firm which has worked with
such large industry players as Boeing, recently partnered
with ECC for workforce training. Kristine Moore, human
resources manager for Triumph, said it was an excellent,
all-in-one experience that came with grant-writing assistance, help with class choices and a thorough learning
platform for the employees.
“Now we have a better-trained workforce, and there was
no better reason to do it than that,” Moore said. “And not
only are they better trained; they’re now looking to move
up in the organization. They understand that there’s a commitment from us to them to keep them trained, and keep
them growing.”
“Really, the relationships between job skills providers and
industries began through our customers and our training
programs,” said Michele Gedrose, continuing education
manager at WVC. “They saw a way to partner the two; how
to create the bridge that was ready to be built.”
At the college, which Gedrose refers to as a “one-stop
shop that provides both lifelong learning opportunities and
in-house workforce training,” the focus of the partnership
side is on providing the classes and training for workers at
local companies. This includes everything from ceramics,
welding and agricultural skills to cake decorati