Central/Mother Lode Consortium Launches Find It. Be It.

Career Education, Good Jobs Close to Home is Campaign Focus

News provided by

Central/Mother Lode Regional Consortium

Feb 06, 2019, 12:00 ET

CLOVIS, Calif., Feb. 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Residents of California's Central San Joaquin Valley and Mother Lode regions can find better-paying jobs or improve their lives right in their communities - collectively, the regions' 14 community colleges offer just over 1,000 certificate and degree programs that lead to careers and that are the focal point of the newly launched Find It. Be It. campaign.

Find It. Be It. is a regional campaign of the Central/Mother Lode Regional Consortium (CRC), an alliance of 14 community colleges, that focuses on preparing the current and future workforce for the demands of regional employers.

This growing region serves 4.4 million people across 15 counties in Central California, where some 128,000 new jobs are expected to be added by 2022. The challenge is finding middle-skill talent in a region with lower educational attainment than the state average:

11 percent of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to more than 20 percent statewide.
The percentage with some college is higher than the state at 23 percent, compared to 21 percent and is on par with the state, with those that have an associate degree at almost 8 percent.
A higher percentage of people in the region are enrolled in career education programs than statewide – 28.9 percent compared to 24.1 percent.

To keep up with employer demand - and attract new employers to the region - the Find It. Be It. campaign is on a mission to train enough skilled workers to meet the need that is projected in key sectors by 2022. The goals of the campaign are to increase student enrollment in career education courses at member colleges and to expand the number of partnerships between member colleges and regional employers. Such partnerships can lead to more internships and other work-based learning opportunities for students, and, ultimately, more job placements upon graduation.

The campaign features a website (FindItBeIt.org) for prospective students and for employers. The career exploration site includes short videos of students who have found the power of career education through more than 100 careers across 16 diverse areas of study, such as Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, Business Management and Administration and Information Technology. Visitors can take a short quiz that matches interests with potential careers, or they can browse by career or program to find job descriptions, median annual salary and other job information. Students can contact colleges via the website to learn more about careers of interest.

"The community colleges in our region provide a path to a better life for recent high school graduates, as well as individuals who are returning to school after some time," said CRC Chair Karri Hammerstrom. "They offer affordable programs and financial aid, for those eligible, making it possible for students to get ahead without having to leave the life and community they know and love - and they can be ready for a new career in two years or less."

The website also includes for regional employers a page with sector news, industry reports and ways to engage with community colleges that help businesses with workforce strategies. Employer videos highlight regional businesses and the workforce success they have achieved as a result of partnering with community colleges.

A seamless workforce talent strategy that benefits students and employers is important as California faces a shortage of middle-skill workers to fill jobs that require more than a high school diploma but less than a four-year degree. The California Community Colleges system is driving the effort to create 1 million middle-skill workers to meet employer demand and to help improve the lives of individuals - and their families - through career education programs that provide the needed skills to enter in-demand jobs.

"Career education benefits entire communities," Hammerstrom said. "It elevates students professionally, and because it leads to well-paying jobs, it helps to elevate families as a whole. It also produces quality talent for businesses, so they can thrive and expand, and when you put those together, you have the makings of a strong regional economy for all."

For more information, visit FindItBeIt.org.

About the Consortium

The Central/Mother Lode Regional Consortium, through public-private partnerships, focuses on growing the regional economy by facilitating development and growth of college training and educational programs to meet the needs of identified high-growth sectors. The consortium's 14 community college members are: Bakersfield College, Cerro Coso Community College, Clovis Community College, College of the Sequoias, Columbia College, Fresno City College, Merced College, Modesto Junior College, Porterville College, Reedley College, San Joaquin Delta College, West Hills Coalinga, West Hills Lemoore, Taft College.