College of Lake County To Participate In National Credentialing Program For Retail Workers

From CLC: The League for Innovation in the Community College today announced a $2.9 million grant to develop a credentialing program for retail workers. The College of Lake County (CLC) is among 12 community colleges across the country chosen to participate in the program, Brighter Futures 3.0, which will build on the success of the Western Association of Food Chains’ (WAFC) Retail Management Certificate (RMC).

The League for Innovation will work closely with the colleges chosen to participate in the program. Over the 2.5 year period of the grant, the selected colleges, based in urban, suburban and rural areas, will work with retail employers who are committed to the RMC as the credential for the advancement of their existing workforce. It anticipated that more than 1,200 incumbent retail workers will be enrolled in the program. The League for Innovation and the WAFC will disseminate the best practices from the project to other community colleges throughout the country.

The project aims to scale the retail management certificate that is currently offered at over 150 community colleges in 13 western states and one state in the Midwest in cooperation with the WAFC. Participating colleges will offer the credit certificate to incumbent workers at local and regional retail employers.

In addition to CLC, additional community colleges funded include Alexandria Technical and CC (Minn.), Anne Arundel Community College (Md.), Austin Community College (Texas), Nashville State Community College (Tenn.), Moraine Valley Community College (Ill.), San Jacinto Community College District (Texas), Sinclair Community College (Ohio), Umpqua Community College (Ore.) and Wayne County Community College District (Mich.). Two additional college proposals (from Wisconsin and New Mexico) are under review for inclusion in the project.

“We are excited to be selected to participate in this project,” said College of Lake County President Jerry Weber. “We appreciate the generosity of the League for Innovation in making this work possible. We look forward to working with our national partners and our local retail employers to offer a nationally-recognized credential to retail employees in our community.”

In announcing the grants, League for Innovation President and CEO, Dr. Rufus Glasper, expressed confidence that the Brighter Futures project will have a positive impact beyond the selected colleges. “The Brighter Futures 3.0 project will lead to best practices that will expand the capacity of community colleges to enhance job training opportunities for incumbent workers. The League will be delighted to share the work of the participating colleges with colleges around the country,” said Glasper.

The selected community colleges will receive up to $100,000 over the duration of the grant to support the colleges’ plans to provide services for retail employees. Additionally, the colleges will leverage instructional stipends to support participant enrollment in courses leading to the retail management certificate.

To learn how to register for the Retail Management Certificate program at CLC, call (847) 543-2615 or email wpdi@clcillinois.edu.

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