Los Angeles Valley College and College of the Canyons were selected over dozens of others in a statewide competition to get millions of dollars to carry out programs relating to manufacturing, technology and healthcare. LAVC has also secured a one-year city of L.A. contract worth $400,000 to train workers, in addition to its three state grants. To secure the grants, colleges had to demonstrate to the Community College Chancellor’s Office that they are effectively working with businesses in their community to help improve the respective industries and help with worker training. Also, they were supposed to show they could do that while providing opportunities to faculty and students. The grants will be awarded in the coming months and actually earmark funds for 2005-06 as well as the current academic year. In all, LAVC will receive from the state: >$552,000 for “Technical Careers in Healthcare” >$375,913 for “Infant and Toddler Teacher Institute” >$743,852 for “Competitive Edge Manufacturers Institute” The College of the Canyons was awarded grants for its “industry-driven” collaborative with Santa Clarita businesses, as well as other community colleges, including Ventura, Glendale and Pierce, said Debra Malinowski, director of grants development at COC. COC’s endeavors are similar to that of LAVC except that they encompass different industries and have separate project leaders assigned to them. COC will receive three grants for: >$155,255 for “Welding Technology” >$242,745 for “Biotechnology” >$277,161 for “Digital Manufacturing” One of the successful cases the LAVC made involved a collaborative with local manufacturers including Tanabyte Engineering Inc., Nestle USA, Superior Industries, Precision Dynamics Corp., Boeing Co.’s Rocketdyne Propulsion and Power, which was formed in August and was spearheaded by the college’s Job Training department. The Competitive Edge Manufacturers Institute, LAVC officials wrote, “will provide training to 233 workers in three areas” that need improvement, including lean manufacturing, technical skills training and upgrade skills training, according to the college’s application. Further, LAVC argued the Institute would remedy “outdated manufacturing production processes, a workforce with inadequate technical skills and a shortage of skilled workers” through providing “programs and activities” and “curricular programs that train skilled workers,” college officials wrote.”Our plan is to upgrade the skills of the workforce and that will eventually create new positions,” said Lennie Ciufo, who heads up the Job Training department at LAVC. “If we upgrade the skills, that’s going to open new positions at the lower level.”At a time when businesses are fleeing California, that’s important for both employers and employees, he said. “I think you develop a plan to service these people, maybe you offer something to convince them to stay,” Ciufo said. “If we can’t convince them to stay, our goal is to open employment opportunities to their employees that want to stay in the Valley.” Partnerships To build the collaborative, LAVC partnered with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. and the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, which helped contact the manufacturers. As LAVC applies the grant money, the two economic organizations will serve as “adviser partners.” It appears that the manufacturers who have signed on to be a part of the collaborative the same ones who sent their representatives to several meetings on LAVC campus in August and September will be the first to benefit from their commitment. “We want to make sure if we do develop a plan that serves other businesses, its priority to serve the collaborative that we started with,” Ciufo said, adding other companies and employees will be able to join in. Separate from the manufacturing-related grant, LAVC will receive $400,000 via a contract with the City of Los Angeles Workforce Development Division. The grant will fund a pilot program between LAVC’s Job Training and four WorkSource Centers in the San Fernando Valley to streamline workers towards LAVC programming. The Job Training department had written an “unsolicited proposal” to the city, Ciufo said. For all of the programs, the goal is to “let more businesses know about the services,” he said. The workshops will be scheduled once per month through the end of the year, he added. And there’s even more outreach of the ‘over the hill’ variety. Ciufo’s efforts didn’t go unnoticed by Los Angeles City College, which has asked him to help jump-start a program there. Ciufo is scheduled to begin work on a “pilot” program as early as next month, he said.
