March 25, 2002
Contact: Brittany Faulkner (509-963-1504/e-mail: faulkneb@cwu.edu)
ELLENSBURG, Wash. - As a way to provide needed training to area residents, the Open Spaces Technology Center (OSTC) in conjunction with Central Washington University and WorkSource will offer a variety of computer training classes beginning next month.
The classes come as the result of years of work on the part of community members interested in supporting economic development in the county.
“The Phoenix Economic Development Group and Ellensburg Chamber of Commerce were among those that collaborated on a countywide study in 2000 that found that there was a need for expanded access to computer training in the county,” Brittany Faulkner, OSTC project coordinator, says. “It’s a problem for rural communities nationwide.
“These classes are designed for people who are looking to expand their job skills as a part of a job search or to improve their performance at work. People from as far away as Yakima and Vantage have already registered for the training.”
The morning, afternoon and evening classes comprise a wide gamut of topics, from “Introduction to Computers/Internet” to “Intermediate QuickBooks” and will also include training in Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint.
They will be offered at the WorkSource computer lab in Ellensburg, a convenient location for jobseekers in need of other services. In May, a second site will be added at the City of Ellensburg Youth and Community Center.
In addition, for those who can’t make it to the classes, a mobile lab will be equipped with 12 computer workstations to allow for training in other locations.
“We will be able to custom design any kind of office productivity training that an employer may be interested in,” Faulkner states.
With support from U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), and grants totaling more than $385,000 from the U.S. Department of Education and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, CWU’s office of continuing education partnered with several local organizations to establish the OSTC.
For more information, to register for classes or for persons of disability to arrange for reasonable accommodation, call (509) 963-1504, or (for the hearing impaired) TDD (509) 963-3323, or visit the OSTC Web site at www.cwuonline.org/OSTC.
