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Utah’s Skilled2Succeed Picks up Steam with New Sponsors, Graduates and Job Placements
OREM, Utah – October 4, 2005 Skilled2Succeed (S2S), helping underserved Utahns achieve employment and self-sufficiency through certification and validation of critical job skills, announced today its second graduating class to be recognized at UVSC this evening. Orem Mayor Jerry Washburn, Provo/Orem Chamber President Steve Densley, United Way of Utah County President Bill Hulterstrom, Adecco Western Division Senior Vice President Wayne Beaubian, UVSC President Bill Sederburg, and keynote speaker Elaine Englehardt are among dignitaries gathering to honor graduates. In addition, S2S reports 100 percent job placement for those in the first graduating class in June. Most notably, corporate sponsors, including Novell, IHC and anonymous donors have endorsed the work of S2S by providing $10,000 to help accelerate growth of the program. Novell has a rich history of providing jobs to thousands of skilled Utah technology workers,” said David Cutler, Vice President, Novell Technical Services. “We are pleased with the early success of Skilled2Succeed in retooling workers to compete for jobs using technology. The program is supported by Novell because it is good for business and the community in which we live and work.” Skilled2Succeed provides the final link in the chain from job retraining to meaningful advancement in the workplace. Certified program graduates have been placed in professional positions at companies like DirectPointe, Coldwell Banker and Novell, among others. The program merges the existing momentum of UVSC’s Turning Point center for personal and career development and WIT in an innovative partnership with DirectPointe, a private sector technology provider; Certiport, world computer certification leader; and Adecco, a leading staffing services provider; Intermountain Health Care health care system; and software provider Novell. Elizabeth Balle graduates today and is enthusiastic about her prospects. “Even with children using technology in the home, I found myself computer illiterate when it came time to reenter the workforce. Now with S2S training and my certification I have the confidence to seek better employment and use these skills to advance my education is the medical field.” Turning Point trainees participate in an evening computer and Internet training course twice weekly for nine weeks. Adecco and Women in Technology (WIT) at UVSC have now joined with DirectPointe in providingtechnology and classroom resources to prepare trainees for certification testing using curriculum tracking to Certiport’s globally recognized standard for digital literacy, Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC³). Upon certification, individuals receive job placement assistance through Adecco, which recognizes IC³ as an important validation of computer skills. Skilled2Succeed is changing to way we think of job retraining in Utah,” stated Michael Proper, CEO of DirectPointe and Skilled2Succeed board member. “DirectPointe’s investment in this program is being richly rewarded with validated, skilled workers who are highly motivated to contribute to the company’s success. This is a very real win/win for underserved individuals, industry, and the community.” More than 14,000* single parent Utah families live in poverty and 26** percent of Utah’s children live in working poor families. Research indicates that two thirds of disadvantaged adults find employment with a significant increase in income after training***. Skilled2Succeed leverages a successful cost-effective model developed by Certiport over the past three years in similar efforts in several states. With the tremendous certification and job placement success already achieved by Skilled2Succeed participants, founding stakeholders hope to certify and find employment for many of the 1,000 yearly Turning Point participants and other public retraining programs. In turn, it is hoped that additional partners and area employers will become aware of the value of Skilled2Succeed and choose to become involved. Employers and job retraining programs seeking more information about Skilled2Succeed may send email to Michelle Scott at mscott@certiport.com . For more information on current alliance partners see www.skilled2succeed.org. Certiport and IC3 are registered trademarks of Certiport, Inc. in the United States and other countries. *Source: U.S. 2000 Census **Source: Utah Children ***Source: Center for Public Policy and Administration – University of Utah |