Basic Skills and the Bottom Line : Education: Companies are turning to community colleges as a less expensive alternative to consultants when it comes to improving their employees’ English and math abilities.

Twice a week after lunch, Thuan Minh Nguyen, a machinist at G&N; Gear Inc. in Santa Ana, trades in his micrometer for a pad and a pencil and becomes a student for two hours.

The 31-year-old skilled worker is among 27 employees and managers of the custom gear-cutting factory who have been taking basic English and math classes at the Garden Grove campus of Rancho Santiago College since November. G&N; Gear President Melvin L. Edwards, who also attends the classes, says the goal of the program is to develop a better trained work force for the 1990s.

G&N; is among a growing number of companies that are tapping into education programs at local community colleges as a less costly alternative to hiring in-house consultants, said Robert Saltarelli, director of apprenticeships and industry at Rancho Santiago.

Founded 15 years ago, G&N; makes parts for the aerospace industry and has always done most of its training in-house. Like many companies, however, Edwards and other managers began noticing how some employees would reach a certain level of competence and then “basically stop growing.” Factory floor workers often lack basic skills in math and English, and this makes it difficult to promote them.

This problem is particularly acute among workers who are not native English speakers, such as Nguyen, who is Vietnamese, said Xuan-Nhi Van Ho, executive director of Community Resource Opportunity Project, a Westminster nonprofit organization for Vietnamese refugees.

“Everything is so basic that they need more lessons after the training we provide,” he said.

Edwards decided that many of his employees--75% of whom are Asian or Latino--could benefit from additional education. After investigating the costs, he found that hiring a consultant to come to the company’s plant was too expensive. These consultants can charge “thousands of dollars for a four-hour seminar, and they require students to have the equivalent of a high school education,” he said. “Most of my employees don’t even have that.”

Edwards also found that community colleges tend to be more accommodating than consultants. G&N; teamed up with Rancho Santiago College, which has a special basic skills education program designed for small businesses.

“You can only cut costs by laying off people for so long, then you have to start investing in your own people to be competitive,” Edwards said. “We’re trying to get something done quickly because time is money. The future growth of this company depended on the skills and knowledge of the people who run and operate it.”

Edwards’ goals for the program: to provide his employees with better career advancement opportunities, build better products and foster good relations with workers.

The six-month program--including courses in reading and comprehension and basic math Edwards decided that many of his employees--75% of whom are Asian or Latino--could benefit