Mobile computer lab brings training to Grand Islanders

Workforce training programs from basic computer skills to customized curriculum for individual businesses will now be available via mobile computer lab to residents and businesses in the Champlain Islands, thanks to a USDA Rural Development Rural Business Enterprise Grant awarded in the spring of 2009. The mobile lab courses will be made possible thanks to a partnership among the Lake Champlain Islands Chamber of Commerce, the Northwest Technical Center, the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation and CyberCottage Computer and Internet Training. The USDA grant will fund the equipment, and course staffing and marketing for up to two years. Training will be delivered at the CyberCottage classroom in Grand Isle, the Lake Champlain Islands Chamber of Commerce meeting room in North Hero and the Alburgh Welcome Center. Classes can also be offered at other locations, and curriculum can be customized for businesses and non-profits in the region.
The Mobile Computer Lab was envisioned to provide Islanders with access to high quality workforce training in Grand Isle County. Previously extensive skill-building courses were only available in Swanton or St. Albans, or at private training centers in Chittenden County. With no high school in the Islands, traditionally a place for adult education, convenient access to comprehensive computer training was non-existent. The program was developed to help the unemployed or under-employed to upgrade critical PC and Web skills, and to assist small and emerging businesses to market their products online or learn QuickBooks, Excel and other software programs important for business sustainability. The goal of the program is to enable businesses to establish a Grand Isle presence with a local pool of educated citizens, and to support enterprise emerging through the creative economy. Those who will benefit from training include artists, manufacturers of specialty products, realtors, teachers, municipal employees and other emergent businesses. For-profit and non-profit enterprises alike need to harness the marketing power of the Internet, now that access to broadband is at hand.
An Open House is scheduled for Wednesday, September 16th, from 3 to 6 p.m. at CyberCottage Computer and Internet Training, in the Island Industrial Park in Grand Isle. The classroom will be set up for demonstrations, and faculty and students will be on hand. CyberCottage Computer and Internet Training established a small training program in Grand Isle two years ago, which has grown from a handful of workshops to a program of 24 classes ranging from an eight-session Computer and Internet Basics series, taught at all three locations, to classes in databases, Vista, marketing, PowerPoint, Excel, eBay, digital photography and more. Classes began September 1 at the Grand Isle site.
Critical partners include VSAC, which provides counseling and assistance for income eligible students to apply for non-degree grants, and the Northwest Technical Center, which provides curriculum development and technical advice, provides laptops and texts, and helps market the Grand Isle classes in the regional curriculum guide. The Lake Champlain Islands Chamber of Commerce, which also serves as the Regional Development Corporation of Grand Isle County, has received other USDA RBEG grants in the past and will administer this grant along with participating in the marketing of the program.
The USDA grant totals $29,420, which will be matched by in-kind services from the Chamber, the Northwest Technical Center and CyberCottage, as well as program income, for a total budget of $66,846.
Grand Isle is the second most rural county in Vermont, yet the fastest growing. The majority (60%) of the workforce travels off-island to work; major economic sectors are tourism, agriculture and the self-employment driven by opportunities within the creative economy. The opportunity for adult workforce education is timely, with high speed Internet access just now providing Islanders with online resources.
For information about classes call Darcy Coates, CyberCottage Computer and Internet Training at (802) 378-4363 or go to www.vtcybercottage.com. For information on the USDA Rural Development grant call Ruth Wallman, Lake Champlain Islands Chamber of Commerce at (802) 372-8400.