Center for Business, Industry & Labor

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On Target • On Demand • On Site

Plus 50 Ageless Learning Program Re-Inspires Many in 2010

2010-2011 has been a busy year for the STLCC Plus 50 Initiative. Transitional & employment workshops, short-term training programs & community collaborations round out an ambitious calendar of events.

Our Plus 50: Re-Inspired Workshops & Plus 50: Re-hired Employment Seminars served over 277 participants throughout the district this past year. Current student Rick Flannagan said, “I am here because my job with Chrysler moved and I didn’t have a job. The greatest challenge for me was the fear of coming back to school. Plus 50 helped me a lot in letting me know what resources were available for adults and also that there were lots of people like me returning to school. I am majoring in human services now to become a drug & alcohol counselor to help people.” Both the Plus 50: Re-Inspired Workshops & the Plus 50: Re-Hired Employment Seminars are scheduled for the Spring 2011 semester. Please check our webpage at http://www.stlcc.edu/Continuing_Education/Plus_50.html for an up-to-date schedule.

A focus of the Plus 50 Initiative has been the development and hosting of open-enrollment short-term jobs skills training programs to best serve the needs of displaced workers in the Saint Louis area.

During the 2010 Spring & Fall semesters, pilot programs of the Home Health Caregiver (HHC) Training were run with a 100% completion rate for both cohorts. About 1.4 million older Americans currently live in nursing homes and nearly 6 million receive care at home. Both locally and nationally, there is a growing gap between the demand and supply of trained caregivers that will only worsen with the aging of baby boomers over the next 20 years. The HHC training program addresses the needs of both our students to acquire job skills in an accelerated format and our community partners in providing skilled workers who will be able to assist those wishes to age in place. Funding for the program is through both the 2010 Community College Caregiver Training Initiative sponsored by the MetLife Foundation and Training for Tomorrow.

In other accelerated Plus 50 programs, 35 students completed our spring & fall 2010 sections of the Personal Fitness Trainer Certification program. For spring 2011 we will offer the Plus 50 Entrepreneur: Start Your Own Business program to address the needs of local start-ups as they invest in our recovering economy. Baby Boomers have historically been an innovative force. This program specifically addresses considerations for the Boomer-preneur: Do you have the time to run a business? Can you afford the business? It also helps the budding business owner to plan ahead with a solid business plan that builds on years of contacts and experience, a great marketing approach and the local resources that will really get the business off the ground.
New for spring 2011 at the Wildwood campus is the Computer Training for the Re-Entry Professional program. This 10 week course addresses the need for comprehensive software skills for professionals who may be changing careers or advancing in a business environment that requires personal computing skills in Microsoft Office, Word & Excel. One focus of this entry-level business training program will be facilitate the creation of a marketable resume, conduct an online job search & complete the application process to widen our participants’ technological vocabulary even more.

The STLCC Plus 50 Initiative teamed up with many community partners this year. We were honored to advocate for a “Boomer-slanted” view in testimony for the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act which will take place in 2011. The Age 4 America Network sponsored idea forums for this reauthorization in Las Vegas, Philadelphia, St. Paul, Denver, St. Louis and Los Angeles. Topics included leveraging the talents of 50+ workers, expanding older adult service opportunities, transitioning with lifelong learning and engaging older adults as leaders in their communities. Participants included Richard Gephardt, Former U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader, Carol Crecy, Director of the Office of Communications, U.S. Administration on Aging, Nancy Morrow-Howell, Brown School of Social Work, Washington University and Marcia Kerz, President of the Oasis Institute.

In November 2010, the STLCC Plus 50 Initiative hosted a one-day symposium titled, “What Are YOU Doing With the Rest of Your Life?” in partnership with AARP, Oasis-STL, the OWL network and the Brown School of Social Work, Washington University. The daylong seminar featured keynote speaker, Jeri Sedlar presenting “Get Rewired for Your Next Act,” a panel of Re-Inspired professionals from the Saint Louis area including Chuck Aranda, Director of GoNetwork St. Louis at the St. Patrick’s Center, and Mary Beth Izard, author of “BoomerPreneurs, How Baby Boomers Can Start Their Own Business, Make Money and Enjoy Life.” All activities centered on career & life transitions for boomers. The successful event was attended by over 150 participants. For footage of the event, see our Plus50STLCC Facebook page.

The spring of 2011 brings a wealth of opportunities for collaboration and community involvement. Please look for our upcoming open-enrollment courses in financial literacy offered in partnership with Better Family life. Our spring schedule may be viewed at http://www.stlcc.edu/Continuing_Education/View_Current_Class_Offerings.html Keep up-to date with ongoing Plus 50 Initiative events at http://www.stlcc.edu/Continuing_Education/Plus_50.html or by joining our Plus50STLCC group or Linked-In Plus 50 forum. For questions or more information, please call Heather Ellison @ 314-984-7842.

Hear what current student, Rick Flannigan, a displaced Chrysler employee, has to say about the program in this YouTube video.

Focus on Entreprenuers and Small Business Owners

Continuing Education classes focus short term, open enrollment, personal and professional development programs to help enrich lifelong learning. The professional development business section includes management and supervisory skills, and business administration classes for small business owners.

To assist individuals interested in starting their own business get off to a successful start, St. Louis Community College-Continuing Education offers several introductory classes including How to Start a Small Business and Are You Ready to Start Your Own Business? which provide an overview of business terms, forms and risks of ownership, marketing, and financial planning. Participants in the How to Write a Business Plan That Works! class will focus on planning operations, human resources, marketing and projecting profitability and cash flow. At the end of this 4 part series, an initial draft of a business plan will be completed.

Keeping Records for a Small Business and Small Business Tax Seminar address the important essentials of setting up your books for home, federal income tax and employment tax requirements along with internal and external financial recordkeeping.

To stay competitive in today’s marketplace requires business owners to stay up-to-date on the latest trends to expand their customer base to for leads, referrals and ultimately more customers and sales. Optimize Your Small Business Website, Email Marketing Strategies for Successful Businesses and Market Your Business Through Social Networking enable current business owners to expand their knowledge of personalized marketing campaigns and business opportunities using the most effective resources.

New this spring, Indie Business Workshop: Making Money with Your Hobby is designed to help market handmade products to properly establish a brand, effective marketing techniques, balancing creativity with administrative tasks and practices that will save money and time.