...They are two of the most important economic development tools for South
Mississippi. Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and Pearl River
Community College are among the state’s 15 community colleges that help
ensure the state has a trained workforce.
...“I could not ask for a better economic development partner,” Charlotte
Koestler, executive director of the Stone County Economic Development
Partnership, said about Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
...Ditto Pearl River Community College.
...“Dr. William Lewis and his team have put together a world class workforce
development training program that trains anything from brick laying to
geospatial software technology,” said Ron Fine, director of Partners for Pearl
River County.
...Community colleges provide four key services in post-secondary education:
They offer courses for students that plan to go on to a four-year college,
enrichment courses for adults, next-step courses for high school vocational
training students and job-specific training based on requests from local
businesses and industries.
...For local economic development professionals, the colleges’ role in
workforce training, votech and pre-employment, are crucial. Workforce
availability is a key question for any business – and by extension for economic
development professionals.
...MGCCC and PRCC are conduits for the curriculum developed at the state
level, and work through the district workforce council and Mississippi
Department of Employment Security – along with talking at length to local
officials – to get an understanding of workforce demands on both the broad
and local level.
...The largest of the two schools is Mississippi Gulf Coast Community
College, which offers more than 60 career and technical programs. With its
main campus in Stone County’s Perkinston, it serves Harrison, Stone,
Jackson and George counties.
...It has four campuses and four centers - George County (Lucedale), West
Harrison (Long Beach), Advanced Manufacturing and Technology Center
(Gulfport) and Keesler Center at Keesler Air Force Base (Biloxi).
...“MGCCC, ranked in the top 100 for the past five years of colleges
producing the most associate degreed students, hosts a quarterly workforce
development workshop to discuss trends and opportunities to develop and
improve training for our labor force,” said Koestler.
...“MGCCC works closely with existing and new industry to provide needed
classes for employers and will customize training to suit the employer as well,”
she said. “MGCCC is like having an angel on your shoulder. They’re always
there if you need them.”
...The older of the two is Pearl River Community College. It has the
distinction of being Mississippi’s first two-year institution of higher learning –
and 16th oldest in the nation. It serves six counties: Pearl River, Hancock,
Forrest, Lamar, Marion and Jefferson Davis.
...In addition to the main campus in Pearl River County’s Poplarville, it
operates the Forrest County Center and Woodall Advanced Technology
Center in Hattiesburg and the Hancock Center in Bay St. Louis/Waveland.
...“They have the knowledge and skill to determine the workforce training
required and can design and implement instructional programs that meet the
precise needs of the customer at the customer’s site,” said Fine.
...PRCC has a range of programs in a variety of fields, including barbering,
brick/block/stone masonry, cosmetology, dental assistant, practical nursing,
truck driving training, welding and more, including aerospace electronics
technology.
...One of the key roles played by MGCCC and PRCC is responding to the
needs of local businesses for training. The colleges, under the Workforce
Development program, are able to custom-design a training program to meet
the needs of a company.
...In the most recent year for which figures are available, 17,000 people were
enrolled in non-credit programs at MGCCC, some for enrichment programs,
others for job-related programs. At PRCC the figure is 5,000 to 8,000
annually.
...Non-credit, workforce training programs are funded by the state, the
industry, federal dollars or, in some cases, it’s jointly funded. Pre-employment
programs can include everything from welding, apprenticeship programs in
pipefitting, blueprint reading classes, beginning computer classes and more.
- David Tortorano, Tcp
April 2008
Mississippi. Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and Pearl River
Community College are among the state’s 15 community colleges that help
ensure the state has a trained workforce.
...“I could not ask for a better economic development partner,” Charlotte
Koestler, executive director of the Stone County Economic Development
Partnership, said about Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
...Ditto Pearl River Community College.
...“Dr. William Lewis and his team have put together a world class workforce
development training program that trains anything from brick laying to
geospatial software technology,” said Ron Fine, director of Partners for Pearl
River County.
...Community colleges provide four key services in post-secondary education:
They offer courses for students that plan to go on to a four-year college,
enrichment courses for adults, next-step courses for high school vocational
training students and job-specific training based on requests from local
businesses and industries.
...For local economic development professionals, the colleges’ role in
workforce training, votech and pre-employment, are crucial. Workforce
availability is a key question for any business – and by extension for economic
development professionals.
...MGCCC and PRCC are conduits for the curriculum developed at the state
level, and work through the district workforce council and Mississippi
Department of Employment Security – along with talking at length to local
officials – to get an understanding of workforce demands on both the broad
and local level.
...The largest of the two schools is Mississippi Gulf Coast Community
College, which offers more than 60 career and technical programs. With its
main campus in Stone County’s Perkinston, it serves Harrison, Stone,
Jackson and George counties.
...It has four campuses and four centers - George County (Lucedale), West
Harrison (Long Beach), Advanced Manufacturing and Technology Center
(Gulfport) and Keesler Center at Keesler Air Force Base (Biloxi).
...“MGCCC, ranked in the top 100 for the past five years of colleges
producing the most associate degreed students, hosts a quarterly workforce
development workshop to discuss trends and opportunities to develop and
improve training for our labor force,” said Koestler.
...“MGCCC works closely with existing and new industry to provide needed
classes for employers and will customize training to suit the employer as well,”
she said. “MGCCC is like having an angel on your shoulder. They’re always
there if you need them.”
...The older of the two is Pearl River Community College. It has the
distinction of being Mississippi’s first two-year institution of higher learning –
and 16th oldest in the nation. It serves six counties: Pearl River, Hancock,
Forrest, Lamar, Marion and Jefferson Davis.
...In addition to the main campus in Pearl River County’s Poplarville, it
operates the Forrest County Center and Woodall Advanced Technology
Center in Hattiesburg and the Hancock Center in Bay St. Louis/Waveland.
...“They have the knowledge and skill to determine the workforce training
required and can design and implement instructional programs that meet the
precise needs of the customer at the customer’s site,” said Fine.
...PRCC has a range of programs in a variety of fields, including barbering,
brick/block/stone masonry, cosmetology, dental assistant, practical nursing,
truck driving training, welding and more, including aerospace electronics
technology.
...One of the key roles played by MGCCC and PRCC is responding to the
needs of local businesses for training. The colleges, under the Workforce
Development program, are able to custom-design a training program to meet
the needs of a company.
...In the most recent year for which figures are available, 17,000 people were
enrolled in non-credit programs at MGCCC, some for enrichment programs,
others for job-related programs. At PRCC the figure is 5,000 to 8,000
annually.
...Non-credit, workforce training programs are funded by the state, the
industry, federal dollars or, in some cases, it’s jointly funded. Pre-employment
programs can include everything from welding, apprenticeship programs in
pipefitting, blueprint reading classes, beginning computer classes and more.
- David Tortorano, Tcp
April 2008
Education/workforce
Training the next generation workforce
Training the next generation workforce
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