TUITION-FREE SUMMER TRAINING AVAILABLE AT BISHOP STATE
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

TUITION-FREE SUMMER TRAINING AVAILABLE AT BISHOP STATE
�I�M GREAT� IS LOOKING FOR 20,000 NEW CONSTRUCTION WORKERS

Tuition-free training for those who qualify through Mobile Works is now available in plumbing, carpentry and masonry at Bishop State Community College.

Bishop State is currently holding summer enrollment in non-credit courses providing students with National Center for Construction and Education and Research (NCCER) certifications in plumbing, carpentry and masonry. The toll-free number to call is 1-888-52GREAT (47328). Registration begins May 12, 2008, at the Southwest Campus located at 925 Dauphin Island Parkway.

Bishop State is the latest community college on an expanding list of participating community and technical colleges in a four-state regional effort to promote and train skilled workers in the construction trades. This effort is a project of the Gulf Coast Workforce Development Initiative (GCWDI).

The Initiative, dubbed as �I�m GREAT� (Gulf Rebuild, Education, Advancement and Training), is on a campaign to recruit and train up to 20,000 new construction workers across the Gulf Coast in basic construction skills by 2009.

�The Gulf Coast Workforce Development Initiative is a broad partnership of business groups, community organizations, educators, construction trade groups and local, state and federal governments from Texas to Alabama who are working together in response to the need to rebuild the Gulf Coast region following the 2005 hurricanes,� GCWDI Program Manager Tim Horst said. �Business Roundtable, an association of 160 CEOs of leading U.S. companies, initiated the effort and is committing up to $5 million to the Initiative,� he said. Interim President Dr. James Lowe said Bishop State is the first site in Alabama to offer this program.

Participants will receive training comprised of topics including basic safety, construction math, hand tools, power tools, blueprint reading and basic rigging, plus the opportunity to continue in more advanced craft skill training classes. The training is designed to prepare




students for entry-level construction jobs and help them develop a career in the construction industry.

To qualify for the training, participants must be legal residents of Alabama, complete an assessment and consent to a drug test. Training will take place at Bishop State Community College.

The �I�M GREAT� campaign has been previously launched in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas where over 15,000 men and women have completed entry level construction training. More information about the Initiative is available at www.imgreat.org.

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Bishop State Community College is a state-supported, open admission, comprehensive urban community college located in Mobile, Alabama. The College consists of four city campuses dedicated to serving the residents of Mobile and Washington counties in Southwest Alabama and residents within a 50-mile radius of the campus. The College is a part of the Alabama Community College System, the state-supported network of two-year community, junior and technical colleges that serves the residents of Alabama. The mission of Bishop State Community College is to provide high-quality educational opportunities and services that are responsive to individual and community needs for the citizenry of Mobile and Washington Counties at an affordable cost. The overall purpose of Bishop State Community College is to provide quality education and leadership to the community, which it serves.