COLLEGE GETS WORK-FOCUS GRANT; CAMPUS TO SPEND $166,000 ON EMPLOYEE-TRAINING CENTER.

Byline: Stacy Brown Daily News Staff Writer

College of the Canyons has received a $166,000 grant to train workers in local industries, campus officials said Monday.

Dena Maloney, the director of the employee training institute at COC, said the grant is part of a $500,000 package to support a Center for Applied Competitive Technologies.

Maloney said the school received the latest award, worth a total of $166,800, last week. It will increase to $180,000 in July and is renewable for four years.

The mission of the center is to provide training, credit and noncredit classes, and technical assistance to manufacturing and other high-tech companies in Santa Clarita, Maloney said.

``This award significantly increases the training and educational resources available to employers all the way from the San Luis Obispo area to the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys,'' said Kathy Alfano, the dean of professional programs and academic computing at COC.

Maloney said the center will support a ``total quality management'' philosophy and will assist businesses in applying new technologies through the use of teams made up of regional economic development educators and others.

``Through this initiative, the school is able to further carry out its mission of providing specialized training to local business,'' Maloney said.

Two years ago, working in partnership with the Valencia Industrial Association, the college developed an Employment Training Panel contract that provided money to train workers in manufacturing at no cost to the employer.

Maloney said that led Aerospace Dynamics International to ask the college to provide training in a specific software product called Computer-Aided Three Dimensional Interactive, called CATIA.

``We began working with Aerospace Dynamics and other employers in July to develop a program to train CATIA operators, machinists, and programmers,'' Maloney said.

She said with the assistance of industry partners, the school was then able to access available grant dollars and form the center.

``We also developed a curriculum which trains students wishing to enter the manufacturing world and upgrade the skills of workers already employed in that field,'' Maloney said.

The grant for the center complements a second ETP contract for $283,000 awarded to the college in December.

That contract provides funds to train 380 local workers within the next two years in a variety of topics including Microsoft Office products, machining, assembly techniques, blue-print reading and math skills, multimedia graphics and digital photography, management skills and customer service.

The ETP program is a cooperative effort between the school and participating businesses, Maloney said.

College President Dianne Van Hook said with the announcement of the grant and the ETP contract, the school has taken another step in addressing the traning needs of the region's work force.

``By working closely with industry partners, we were able to leverage resources and access funds, which serve the needs of local employers whom we are very appreciative of their support,'' Van Hook said.