Industry Partnership Grant

Husky Research Corporation (HRC) of Bloomsburg University was awarded an Industry Partnership Grant, in the amount of $96,517, from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, in FY 2005-06. The grant was used to establish Bloomsburg Technology Partners, a consortium of regional businesses, economic development agencies, Workforce Investment Boards, and Ben Franklin Technology Partners.

The grant stakeholders established three targeted industry clusters to involve throughout the duration of the project - manufacturers, healthcare providers, specifically regional hospitals, and banking and insurance service organizations. HRC contracted with Bloomsburg University's Institute for Interactive Technologies (IIT) to conduct a series of Focus Groups for representatives of the targeted industry clusters. A series of five meetings were held to discuss the information technology needs of all the member companies. IIT also developed an electronic needs assessment survey from the information that was provided from the employers during the Focus Groups. The survey instrument was used to determine the specific areas of skill gaps and future needs that companies perceive related to information technology.

Based on the establishment of the Industry Partnership, Husky Research Corporation (HRC) was awarded a $400,000 Industry Partnership Worker Training Grant for fiscal year 2006-2007. With this grant award, HRC has contracted with Bloomsburg University's IIT to design information technology curriculum for the regional workforce of the targeted industries in the partnership.

Specifically, IIT has developed 3 levels of online training in the following topics: Database Development, Information Technology Project Management, and Web 2.0. Each four-hour course is available to any employee of a regional manufacturing-based business, hospital, bank, or insurance service organization. In addition, IIT has developed curriculum for four classroom workshops in the following topics: Advanced MS Word, Advanced MS Excel, Advanced MS PowerPoint, and Train the Mentor/Trainer. Each classroom topic is 16 hours in length, and will be available for local registration at Bloomsburg University, and through regional educational partners Luzerne County Community College and Pennsylvania College of Technology.

For additional information regarding the Industry Partnership and Worker Training Grants, contact Tom Fletcher, Director of Corporate and Continuing Education at Bloomsburg University, at 570-389-5161, or tfletche@bloomu.edu.

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