College Selected for High-Tech Program

State Controller Kathleen Connell on Tuesday named Santa Monica College as a pilot school in a program that attempts to pair high-tech industries with community colleges around the state.

Connell announced that Santa Monica would be the first school to participate in the program to train community college students for emerging industries.

Five colleges selected for the pilot program will be paired with companies in high-tech communications, computer-aided fashion design, new media, international trade and biosciences. The industries will help develop curricula at the schools, provide internships and supply the technical expertise and equipment necessary to train students.

“Thousands of jobs are going unfilled because we have students that don’t have the right skills for the industries emerging as the powerhouses in the state economy,” Connell said.

Studios such as Columbia TriStar Television, Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros. and Paramount Digital Entertainment have pledged to help develop a new media program at Santa Monica College.

More than 40 entertainment companies have offered to help Santa Monica create the college’s new Academy of Entertainment and New Technology, slated to open in the fall. College officials said the state program would help reinforce the relationship between the school and the industry.

“It certainly supports our current efforts and it will help us attract other partners,” said Rocky Young, the college’s vice president of planning and development. “It clearly shows we are in the center of training for this industry, and having the state participate helps coalesce our efforts.”