So long as enough people sign up, the first couple of college courses are scheduled to start in Sundre in the new year.
Made possible courtesy of a collaborative partnership between the municipality and Campus Alberta Central (CAC), Red Deer College will be delivering two programs this January: Microsoft essentials as well as management skills for supervisors.
Those options were not selected randomly on a whim, but rather as the result of a survey conducted last year by the town’s economic development department, said Jon Allan, Sundre’s economic development officer.
Both courses will be taught at the Sundre Community Centre’s boardroom, which is doubling as the location of the new local CAC learning site, he said, adding the municipality will also earn a standard boardroom rental rate paid by the college.
But before either program gets the official green light, a minimum of eight people must sign up for each course. Based on interest that has been expressed at the Greenwood Neighbourhood Place Society’s office, Allan is hopeful those numbers will not only be met but perhaps exceeded.
While there are tuition fees to account for, financial incentives are available for business owners who want to invest in the professional development of their employees.
“Courses are also eligible to have tuition significantly subsidized for business or non-profit employers as part of the Canada-Alberta Jobs Grant,” said Allan.
“To be competitive economically, one of the most important factors to any geographic area is the quality of the local workforce,” he said when asked his thoughts on the importance of making available such courses.
“We’re really lucky to have this post-secondary presence, since the training they provide to residents and workers is important to our area’s commercial competitiveness.”
Additionally, he said having a local post-secondary presence further adds legitimacy to the municipality as a destination for investment and development.
We agree, and commend the effort invested in this initiative. Since we hope to see the programs succeed, we encourage anyone who is interested in learning more about the courses to consider attending on Thursday, Nov. 21 a public open house from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Sundre Community Centre boardroom, where a representative of RDC will be available to answer questions.
This could be the first step to a more permanent post-secondary presence, and we look forward to following up and reporting on developments.
Simon Ducatel is the Sundre Round Up’s editor