Sylmar : College Gets Grant for Job Retraining

Mission College received a $500,000 grant this week to develop a one-stop center to retrain unemployed people for jobs as skilled workers.

The grant, awarded by Los Angeles County’s Private Industry Council, will be implemented in partnership with the state’s Employment Development Department, school officials said.

The money will be used to train 125 unemployed men and women, said Penny Young, director of the community college’s business and professional center.

The training programs are available immediately, Young said. “People can begin coming in right now, whether it’s for a three-week course in Microsoft [software training] or longer-term training” in an area such as engineering, she added.

Occupational training programs could last as long as 19 weeks, with an average of about 12, officials said.

Training will be available for people wishing to start new careers in such areas as computer technology, security, construction, air-conditioning and refrigeration service, carpentry, cabinetmaking, electronics, engineering, plumbing, architecture, fashion merchandising, day care and elderly care, and restaurant, motel and tourism services.

The center also will offer job-interest assessment to help people determine career paths, develop basic job-search skills and assist in job placement.

“We’re also offering direct placement,” Young said. “So that if someone came into us and we determined he or she is qualified for an opening in the community, we could help fill the position directly.”

For information, call the college’s business and professional center at (818) 837-2236.