Barstow, CA-Barstow Community College (BCC) is proud to announce they were one of seven colleges in the nation to move onto the finals in the second annual NACCE 2020 Pitch for the Trades competition, sponsored by the Philip E. & Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation. The Ratcliffe Foundation is offering $125,000 in cash prizes to be divided amongst the winners in next month’s competition. The BCC team is led by Dr. Crystal Nasio, Dean of Instruction, Workforce and Economic Development, who is presenting the “Trade Technician Jump Start Program.” This new program is scheduled for a spring 2021 start.
The Trade Technician Certificate Program is a non-credit, no cost hands-on experience course designed to teach students the basic principles in 8 high-demand core skills and trades that touches nearly every industry and business in our local community. This is an innovative approach to provide an all-encompassing 12-week course designed to engage high school students, adult education, high risk youth, the unemployed, veterans, homeless and those seeking retraining opportunities. These foundational 8 core skills and trades include OSHA safety standards, hand and power tools, construction basics and drawings, welding, plumbing, electrical, HVAC and customer service.
The Trade Technician Certificate Program is designed to deploy employable skills in just 12- weeks allowing for completers in this program to have the entry-level experience and knowledge to enter the workforce immediately by applying for entry-level job openings in any business sector. By removing financial and time-constraint barriers for those who have children or other personal obligations, this program provides the opportunity to schedule flexible hands- on training times in a post-COVID environment, ensuring a high success rate of completers of the program.
Upon completion of the course, students will have the opportunity to apply for employment through BCC’s job placement program or participate in a paid internship program with our community partners.
BCC is competing with remaining finalists: North Idaho College (Idaho), Beachside Bistro/NIC Venture + Trades Program; Ivy Technical Community College (Indiana), Construction Trades Accelerator Program; City College of San Francisco (California), Entrepreneurship & Innovation for Skilled Trades; Washtenaw Community College (Michigan), HVAC Partnership Pipeline;
Richland Community College (Illinois), On the Road to Entrepreneurship; Catawba Valley Community College (N. Carolina), One-of-a-Kind Collaboration between Catawba Farms and CVCC.
NACCE is an organization of educators, administrators, presidents, and entrepreneurs focused on igniting entrepreneurship in their community and on their campuses. Since its inception, it has become one of the largest entrepreneurial ecosystems in the United States. NACCE has two main goals: to empower the college to approach the business of running a community college with an entrepreneurial mindset; and to grow the community college’s role in supporting job creation and entrepreneurs in their local ecosystem. The association represents 300+ community and technical colleges and 2,000 faculty, staff, administrators and presidents who serve more than 3.3 million students. Visit: www.nacce.com
The Philip E. and Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation is a charitable organization designed to encourage and reward entrepreneurship, create jobs, and expand economic opportunity. Based in the Annapolis, Maryland, the foundation provides funds to institutions to encourage entrepreneurship in non-traditional business fields such as the arts, design, health care, environmental science, aquaculture and skilled trades. The Ratcliffe Foundation strives to integrate its programs with local communities through mentorships and business involvement. Visit: www.theratcliffefoundation.org
The finals can be watched on October 13, 2020, 6:00 PM Eastern in conjunction with the NACCE 2020 conference at https://www.nacce.com/events/nacce2020virtual to NACCE 2020 Conference.
Media Contact:
Director of Public Relations, Communications, and Marketing AMANDA SIMPSON
