IEDRC Newsletter Ready… GO!

Inland-Desert Colleges ‘Ready’ to Serve Crucial Career Education Needs

For the 12 community and technical colleges in the Inland Empire-Desert region, it all boils down to one question: “Are you READY?”

In response to the region’s urgent need for well-educated, well-trained professionals in understaffed and emerging fields like Healthcare, Manufacturing and Digital Tech, the Inland Empire/Desert Regional Consortium of colleges has launched a new multiplatform marketing and communications campaign, branded “Ready”.

The effort, aimed at increasing the profile and talent pool of in-demand skilled careers in the region, emphasizes the speed, value and real-world relevance of two-year college Career Education programs.

“Career Education programs are competitive, affordable and accessible for students to acquire the hands-on, high-quality skills they need to enter exciting, new and good-paying career fields,” said Ashley Etchison, director of SWP Communications & Marketing at Norco College. “These programs are the answer to solving the skills gap and reducing unemployment and underemployment throughout the region.”

More than just a new tagline or creative concept, “Ready” is the next step in the evolution of Career Education.

By 2025, the Public Policy Institute of California estimates the emergence of up to 1.5 million jobs requiring a sub-Bachelor’s postsecondary degree. For the Inland Empire and Desert regions, that means hundreds of thousands of in-demand careers, with employers paying top-dollar to staff them.

This impending “skills gap” is the driving force behind a national trend toward outcome-focused Career Education. But as one of the nation’s fastest-growing economies, the Inland region’s future may already be here. According to the Inland Empire Economic Partnership, the region added 47,500 jobs in 2016, many of them in construction, healthcare, logistics, transportation and manufacturing.

“Our citizens love our region, and we want to give them the opportunity to fill these jobs through their community colleges,” said IEDRC Chair Julie Pehkonen. “They deserve that.”

For homegrown Career Education success stories like Barstow Community College grad Ruben Ramirez, this demand for college-level workforce skills represented a golden opportunity to advance.

“You can’t be just hoping for something to come along,” said Ramirez, who parlayed his Industrial Maintenance Mechanic certificate into a rewarding career with construction materials company CalPortland. “You’ve got to get ready and stay ready for that opportunity.”

The IEDRC’s “Ready” campaign will focus on real student and employer success stories that highlight the capability of its 12 colleges to provide real world-prepared graduates. The “Ready” concept was chosen for its succinct, energetic power, and has already found traction with students and stakeholders.

“It fits everywhere. Like, I was ready for a change, I was ready to be here, I was ready to learn… I was ready to go out into the world,” said Brandy Gardea, who credits her experience at Victor Valley College for helping her turn her passion for engines into a rewarding career in automotive technology.

“And, you know what? I got to the interviews and I was ready for them, too.”