Industry support helps to make trades training a success at NWCC

"Prince Rupert Grain has been a tremendous supporter of our efforts to create an accessible workforce. It is through their support, and hopefully that of others, that the college will be able to continue to provide training and education our communities and businesses need to stay economically viable." – Stephanie Forsyth, NWCC president outlining the support of one of Prince Rupert’s largest employers towards trades training at the college.

With an eye looking towards the future, Prince Rupert Grain continued with its ongoing commitment to training in the Northwest with another installment towards their 100.000 dollar funding of trades training at Northwest Community College.

It’s the third year that the company has partnered with the college and provided financial assistance towards the electrical program at the college, realizing that an investment today will pay large dividends in the years to come, as locally trained tradesmen and women seek out the specialized jobs at the Grain elevator and other industrial sites around the city.

The Daily News featured details of the trades training program as their front page story in Friday’s paper.

LOCAL FIRM HELPING COLLEGE TRAIN A SKILLED WORKFORCE
PRG’s investment of $100,000 ensuring tradespeople can be grown locally
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Friday, May 16, 2008

Pages one and five

Through a significant five-year donation, Prince Rupert Grain is helping Northwest Community College (NWCC) secure the future of the Northwest B.C. workforce.

The company donated $10,000 to NWCC this week, marking the fourth installment of a $100,000 donation Prince Rupert Grain announced in 2005, when they made an initial payment of $50,000. The money has been used to assist students in Northwest B.C. in achieving their education goals in the skilled trades and filling serious work shortages within industry.

"We identified a few years ago a shortage of offering electrical apprenticeship training closer to home, and in our facility we've had quite a need, given the sophistication of our control systems, to be certain we have enough electricians and electronic technologists on site to maintain that equipment," said Jeff Burghardt, president and CEO of Prince Rupert Grain.

"So, we were pleased to partner with Northwest Community College to see an expansion of their program offerings in that area."

PRG's initial $50,000 donation was used by NWCC to initiate the delivery of the school's electrical program at the Prince Rupert campus, with the additional donations going into the program's further expansion.

"The electrical program has seen strong enrollment from the first offering," said Dave O'Leary, NWCC dean of trades and technology.

"Demand for all our trades programs has increased steadily over the last three years and it's been through the support of industry partners such as Prince Rupert Grain that the college has been able to keep up with that demand. Without the support from Prince Rupert Grain, we would not have been able to afford the purchase of sophisticated simulation equipment that made our year three electrical apprenticeship offering possible."

For the past three years, NWCC has been increasing its trades program offerings to help meet the ongoing demand for skilled trades workers within the Northwest and throughout B.C. The college's electrical program has expanded, and is now offering apprenticeships as well as foundations training.

"The increasing costs of developing and delivering training programs are making financial support from business and industry more imperative than ever," said Stephanie Forsyth, NWCC president.

"Prince Rupert Grain has been a tremendous supporter of our efforts to create an accessible workforce. It is through their support, and hopefully that of others, that the college will be able to continue to provide training and education our communities and businesses need to stay economically viable."