Press release
Crawford: 20/20 Vision’s Business Success and Job Availability (BSJA) Action Team has hosted a Supervisor Boot Camp each fall and spring for three years now– each time adjusting to Crawford County employer needs and trends. This year, however, marks an impressive upgrade: Boot Camp grads can now apply their training toward college credit.
“Our eighth session will begin March 22, and our planning committee works hard before each round to ensure customer satisfaction and sustainability,” said Doug Leuthold, president of Advanced Fiber Technology in Bucyrus and BSJA Action Team Leader. “One of the things we felt the employers that invest in this training, and our graduates, would value, is an opportunity to build on what they’ve learned in a more tangible, and practical way.”
The idea emerged when Boot Camp began holding its courses at the Crawford Success Center—a satellite of North Central State College.
“It just seemed like a natural way to build on our partnership with our community’s newest education and training center,” Leuthold said.
Members of his committee then worked closely with the center’s director, and Dr. Greg Timberlake, NCSC’s Dean of Business, Industry, Technology, and Workforce to determine whether the Supervisor Boot Camp curriculum was rigorous enough to articulate into college credit. To their delight, it was!
Graduates in the spring 2017 program, along with the 116 local supervisors who have completed the training before them, can seek to obtain credit by completing a paper detailing how their training met the learning objectives for NCSC’s Supervision course (BUSM 1030). If the requirements are met, Boot Campers can apply for admission and apply the three college credit hours toward a certificate or Associate’s degree program at NCSC.
“It is important to the college, and to the State of Ohio, that we help our citizens capitalize on their skills,” said Dr. Timberlake. “Helping people convert what they’ve learned through training and work experience into college credit, is a great way to encourage life-long learning—something that is so crucial to our economic well-being.”
In addition to helping Boot Camp grads who may wish to further their business education, this upgrade is also a “win/win” for the community.
“One of the biggest things on our radar right now in Crawford County, is our area’s educational attainment rate,” said Gary Frankhouse, Executive and Economic Development Director for the Crawford Partnership (the parent organization to Crawford: 20/20 Vision). “We are dedicated to increasing that rate because it can impact our area’s economy drastically. Even a 1% increase can translate to $2-5 million in revenue when you factor in Household Median Income. Opening the Crawford Success Center was just step one in that direction; earning college credit for Supervisor Boot Camp is another step. We hope our Boot Campers will choose to take this opportunity to further their educational goals. The Partnership and our 20/20 Volunteers are passionate about closing that percentage gap as much as possible!”
To date, 26 different businesses have sent supervisors to this six-week, interactive training—half of which, are repeat customers, Leuthold added. “Through Retention and Expansion surveys, we found that many supervisors are promoted because they are a ‘super’ worker, but they are not always given the tools to be effective supervisors. We developed this program to help local companies that struggle with turnover.”
For more information on Supervisor Boot Camp, the option to earn college credit, or to register for the spring session—Wednesdays, March 22 through April 26 at the Crawford Success Center (from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day) go to www.crawford2020.com.