Responding to a Community Need

Dramatic changes are underway in the local economy. Preserving the manufacturing base is an important economic driver; a key factor to doing so is a highly skilled workforce. In order to attract new businesses to Berks and maintain the competitive edge of current businesses, local business leaders determined there was a need for a facility to provide specialized and customized training programs. The Berks County Workforce Investment Board (WIB) was organized in 1999 and charged with identifying and advancing solutions to strategic workforce development in Berks County. The WIB supports the Schmidt Training and Technology Center at RACC as one of its strategies for closing the gap between today’s workforce and the skilled workers required by employers in Berks County for tomorrow’s jobs.

Providing relevant training programs

The Schmidt Training and Technology Center provides customized training programs that adjust to the changing needs of employers. Training programs based on employer needs use evolving instruction methods and technologies. Instruction is highly individualized.

Training courses are offered in these areas:

• Manufacturing Technology—The range of topics available for an employer’s needs vary from troubleshooting fluid power systems to repairing mechanical systems, from maintaining automated manufacturing systems to a grounding in electricity, motor controls and Programmable Logic Controllers.
• Senior Leadership—Programs for leaders include how to operate your company or division more efficiently as well as improving personal effectiveness as a leader.
• Information Technology (IT)—In addition to training in application software, specialized programs for certification in IT are offered.
• Workplace Readiness—Workplace readiness teaches teamwork, cooperation and basic literacy and math skills to entry-level workers for maximum effectiveness in the labor environment.

Creating compatibility

RACC currently collaborates with the Berks Career and Technology Center (BCTC) and Reading-Muhlenberg Career & Technology Center (RMCTC). RACC classes are held in the evening at these facilities when classrooms are available for adult students. RACC has articulation agreements with BCTC and RMCTC that enable secondary students to earn college credit for advanced knowledge and skills mastered prior to high-school graduation. The Schmidt Training and Technology Center offers training for those already employed and ready to move to a higher skill level, programs for adults entering the workforce and specialized certificate programs.

Expanded cooperation with secondary education institutions is part of the Berks County Workforce Investment Board’s effort to focus on workforce skills development for the region. Additionally, discussions with other Berks County institutions of higher learning are underway to seek ways to cooperate, complement and focus on the same goals: world-class skills in Berks.

Benefiting Berks County

Community interaction and participation have driven development of the design, programs and vision of the Schmidt Training and Technology Center. Reading Area Community College will sustain the Center’s viability by keeping an ear open to the needs of the businesses and individuals who live and work in Berks County.

Maintaining flexibility

The building’s infrastructure is designed so that training can be easily changed to accommodate the needs of business and industry. All equipment is portable; classrooms have no attached fixtures; utility hook-ups are fed by overhead bus ducts with an open ceiling; and oversized doors access first-floor laboratories for easily introducing new equipment. Training programs can transition every few weeks or more frequently. An employer who acquires new equipment can have it delivered to the Schmidt Training and Technology Center, hold a training workshop there and then have it placed into the company’s production line.