The Center for Workforce and Community Education at Bristol Community College

For professionals interested in helping develop the local business community, Bristol Community College’s Center for Workforce and Community Education should come to mind. However, even well-established organizations deserve a reintroduction every once in a while. The Center, located near the waterfront at 1082 Davol Street, provides the public with opportunities for high-quality workforce education.

The goal? To equip community members, employees, and organizations with the skills to succeed in the evolving job market. The Center focuses on five major industry sectors in the region: healthcare, finance, manufacturing, hospitality, and energy and sustainability.

“We value community partnerships,” said Carmen Aguilar, Dean of The Center for Community and Workforce Education. “We respond to regional needs by working with employees who want professional career training, companies looking to improve the skills of their employees, large and small businesses, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies to find the best workforce training solutions.”

Corporate Services at Bristol Community College advocates for effective professional development in the workplace. The corporate services staff sets up consultations directly with business leaders to create a plan that fits their unique needs. They provide their community partners with a free needs assessments, customized on-site training, and grant support to show their commitment to helping businesses grow.

“Corporate Services at The Center can help with the expense of workforce education,” said Robert Vitello, Director of Corporate Services at BCC. “Training grants are available through federal and state funding opportunities, especially the Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund Program (WTFP). Through every step of the grant process, our staff work with management teams to take the difficulty out of the grant writing and submission process.”

Companies receive training in problem solving, time management, effective communication, technical productivity, OSHA, conflict management, foreign language for business, computer literacy, and more. All of these services help local businesses…but what about results? Here’s just a few recent, successful partnerships The Center has established to create and execute customized trainings.

• A training with Lafrance Hospitality funded by the Department of Higher Education assisted eight chefs and lead cooks to receive BCC certifications in Best Practices for Culinary Sanitation and Management Development and Lean Processing. The skills learned in the trainings helped to standardize kitchen operating procedures and several staff received ServSafe certifications.

• Under a $74,210 WTFP grant, Mechanics Cooperative Bank and The Center worked together to complete an Advanced Customer Service and Advanced Sales Skills training. Their closing report showed the creation of five new positions at the bank.

• The Center’s successful partnership with BayCoast Bank resulted in several trainings under a $223,430 WTFP grant to train 284 employees. The trainings supported the banks goals by increasing consumer lending by 27 percent, commercial lending by 26 percent, and by contributing to recent job growth through employee promotions.

Although Corporate Services is a large priority at The Center, they also offer open enrollment non-credit training programs to sharpen the skills of individuals for career growth within the major industry sectors.

Take healthcare for example. The Center’s Medical Assistant Review course allows medical assistants that do not currently hold a third-party credential to prepare and take the exam to become certified in their current positions. During one of their most recent cohorts, 100 percent of the learners in the course passed the Medical Assistant Certification Exam. Certified Nurse Assistant and Personal Care Assistant trainings are also offered for those interested in beginning a new career in the healthcare field.

As a newly accredited Building Performance Institute (BPI) Testing Center, The Center also offers a Weatherization Training program that allows those in the industry to train and get certified as a BPI building analyst and a Mass Save Crew Chief. Dedicated to “staying green,” The Center even implemented a Master Gardener program to promote sustainability and satisfy those who want to exercise their green thumb.

Bristol Community College’s Center for Workforce and Community Education is about more than numbers. Their core values focus on their promise to listen, to support, and to find solutions that drive regional workforce development through the roof.

To stay in the loop on what’s offered at The Center, call 508.678.2811, ext. 2154 or visit BristolCC.edu/WorkforceTraining.