SJC Receives $100,000 REDC Grant

December 18, 2015 LI

PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – December 18, 2015 – St. Joseph’s College (SJC) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded $100,000 in funding from the Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) to train 170 unemployed workers, including veterans, in career counseling and employment preparation, basic workforce skills, hospitality, soldering and welding.

“SJC has been actively engaged in partnerships with the Huntington Community Development Agency and the Huntington Opportunity Resource Center for the past few years,” said Gail Lamberta, Ph.D., associate dean for community development at SJC. “The funding that SJC has received will enable us to provide specialized training programs at these locations to prepare people for the workforce. We are excited to have this opportunity to partner with the Huntington community and are confident that together we will make a positive impact for the participants in this workforce training program.”

SJC will use the funds in partnership with the Huntington Opportunity Resource Center (HORC) where SJC professors, instructors and other industry professionals, will teach training courses to prepare unemployed people for specialized careers based on local job sector demands. The training courses will include welding and soldering; career counseling and employment preparation; basic workforce skills; hospitality and tourism service training; and hospitality finance and computer skills. Upon successful completion of the training program, all clients will receive a certificate of completion by an accredited college; specialized industry-recognized certifications will be awarded as well.

“As a college dedicated to serving the educational needs of community members, we also partnered with Suffolk County Community College, who will focus on manufacturing skills,” said Christopher Frost, Ph.D., senior vice president and vice president for academic affairs at SJC. “Overall, this initiative is another way that SJC is advancing the goals of our Center for Community Solutions—advancing livability across Long Island, collaboratively. I want to acknowledge Tracey Edwards, Town of Huntington councilwoman, and Joan Cergol, director of the Huntington Community Development Agency, who were both very involved with this proposal and initiative.”
 
In 2013, SJC was awarded more than $900,000 in REDC funding to expand its Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) program, the only 4-year degree program offered on Long Island, created to train and educate the future workforce in the tourism, hotel management and health care hospitality fields. With the funds, SJC Long Island was able to market the program and renovate existing space on its campus to house the growing program.

The REDC was established in 2011 by Governor Cuomo to develop long-term strategic plans for economic growth for each of the 10 regions of New York State. Over the past three years, the regional councils have awarded billions of dollars for job creation and community development.  These councils are public-private partnerships made up of local experts and stakeholders from business, academia, local government, and non-governmental organizations.

ABOUT ST. JOSEPH'S COLLEGE
St. Joseph’s College has been dedicated to providing a diverse population of students in the New York metropolitan area with an affordable education rooted in the liberal arts tradition since 1916. Independent and coeducational, the College provides a strong academic and value-oriented education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, aiming to prepare each student for a life characterized by integrity, intellectual and spiritual values, social responsibility and service. Through SJC Brooklyn, SJC Long Island and SJC Online, the College offers degrees in more than 45 majors, special course offerings and certificates, affiliated and pre-professional programs.