Education is the key to employment and economic stimulus, said Dave Cunnigham, associate dean of workforce training and grants for Lake Washington Technical College.

With campuses in Kirkland and Redmond, LWTC offers a wide variety of occupational programs to people who are not college-ready or want to change jobs, but lack the necessary skills. And in this economic climate, that’s a lot of people.

In addition, small-to-medium business owners can help current employees ramp up their skills through on-site training programs overseen by LWTC.

“We are one of 34 technical colleges in the state of Washington, contracted to help with incumbent worker training for economic development,” Cunningham explained.

The goals are to “keep jobs and business here and bring in new businesses.”

LWTC offers grants and the companies match state dollars so that workers can get training during their regular hours on the job.

“The college tracks participation of the company. Our role is to make sure that what happens is what is stated in the contract, to make sure they comply. We watch the money closely,” said Cunningham.

“We have worked to boost efficiency and productivity, so that output is more predictable in quality and quantity. We do a needs analysis upfront to help companies streamline their operations … or do fundamental math and language training plus specialized help with lean manufacturing.”

Redmond-based Interior Woodworking Specialists benefited tremendously from its participation in the LWTC’s Job Skills Program.

IWS makes custom cabinets, bars and fixtures for the restaurant industry. After a lean manufacturing “makeover,” employees were able to build a 10-foot base cabinet in 20 hours, a process that had taken 56 hours when old practices were in place.

At Strasser Woodenworks in Woodinville, part of the labor force was from Southeast Asia and the other part from Central America or Mexico. There were cultural problems between the different ethnic groups and an LWTC Job Skills Program helped to resolve the discord. Next, English language training was implemented in mixed ESL (English as a second language) groups.

In Arlington, Bowman Manufacturing found that employees needed better basic math skills to read blueprints. An LWTC Job Skills Program made a huge difference, said Cunningham.

“People who were math-phobic or thought they were dumb, suddenly ‘got it.’ People who felt trapped in a low-income job saw that they could go to college, they could learn valuable skills. It suddenly awakened their confidence, improved morale,” he noted.

“Two-year colleges play a big role,” Cunningham concluded. “With layoffs as they are, we’ve never had more people re-training or keeping skills up to earn more.”

For information, contact Dave Cunningham at 425-739-8269.