A 10-year partnership between
Gateway Community and Technical College and the Florence, Ky., site of financial services company
Citi has received the prestigious national Bellwether Award for Workforce Development from the
Community College Futures Assembly and the
University of Florida.
The Gateway-Citi partnership was one of 10 national finalists for the award, which recognizes public and/or private strategic alliances and partnerships that promote community and economic development.
"Our president, Dr. Ed Hughes, met with the site president, Mr. Gregg Morton, and they created the idea of a partnership,” says Dr. Angie Taylor, Gateway vice president of Workforce Solutions and Innovations. “Mr. Morton believed that education was a business strategy and wanted to explore partnership opportunities with Gateway.”
The Gateway-Citi partnership emphasizes career development and provides resources to enable Citi employees to begin or complete college credentials. Nearly 2,900 Citi employees have been served by the partnership, and Citi has replicated parts of it at three other sites across the country. In addition, Gateway has replicated various components in numerous companies in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region.
“We created an Operations Management Certificate for Citi, which is comprised of 12 credit hours,” Taylor says. “The four courses are embedded in the Business Administration Associate Degree. These courses, which lead to the Operation Management Certificate, have not only been taken by many Citi employees, but five other local companies are providing it for their employees.”
For 2014, Taylor says they will be offering customized client excellence training and will move into leadership and sales training, and that they will continue to strive for replication of services to other companies interested in making education a business strategy.
“One of the finest outcomes of this entire partnership has been the collaboration and willingness to take risks. We had never offered college courses off campus before or had an academic advisor on site at a company. We didn’t know if employees would have an interest in career mapping or shadowing. What we learned is that education is a very positive motivator for helping people stay engaged in their work while increasing their skills and abilities through credentials such as certificates and degrees. It has been a win for the employees, Citi and Gateway.
By Mike Sarason
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