Center Cranks Up Workforce Support

With an annual budget of $640,235 and a new $4.6 million facility, the Shewmaker Center for Workforce Technologies in Bentonville is striving hard to help Northwest Arkansas’ companies and workers keep up with the world.

The Center, which is part of NorthWest Arkansas Community College, also has a new dean. Floretta Bush began work at the Shewmaker Center on July 1. She comes from San Jacinto Central College in Houston where she worked as the community education director, directing the adult education and personal development/leisure education programs, as well as serving as administrator of the Center for Advanced Software Training located within the NASA community.

“At no time in the history of Northwest Arkansas has human resource development been so critical, and NWACC has been in the forefront of filling that demand through customized training,” Bush said recently. “As HR needs continue to diversify and grow even more rapidly, NWACC will be looking at how we can play an even greater role not only in providing training, but in areas such as building consortiums, obtaining outside funding streams, and increasing directly related services such as employee assessments and consultation services.”

Judith Tavano, human resources coordinator for the Shewmaker Center, served as interim dean prior to Bush’s recent employment. The center has been operating since the early 1990s, but the opening of the new facility has increased its visibility, Tavano said.

“Now people know we exist,” she added.

The center offers a variety of courses and training opportunities, and opens its doors for Arkansas companies to use its facilities for conferences and employee training. The core areas of study offered at the center include retail support, information technology, industrial technology and human resource management, including health/ safety training and American Management Association certified courses.

The center has worked closely with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and its suppliers to develop of its retail support curriculum. The program allows participants to earn a marketing analyst certificate. The center also works closely with Northwest Arkansas’ other big employer — Tyson Foods Inc. Together, the Shewmaker Center and Tyson have developed a “Building the Future” program that teaches Hispanics and others about how to manage a checkbook, the importance of good credit and steps for purchasing a home.

Another popular training opportunity is an electrical apprenticeship that includes training over four years with 160 in-class hours and 2,000 hours of on-the-job training.

Professional development is also big at the Shewmaker Center with courses that range from grant writing for nonprofits to “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.” In addition, Arkansas companies can arrange for Shewmaker instructors to teach seminars specifically geared for their organization. Or, Tavano said, they can use the facility’s team-building ropes course.

“We’re really building a reputation for working with companies and identifying strategic directions and helping them to meet those goals,” Tavano said. “We help them set goals and objectives, and help them develop a measuring system for how they are doing.”

Bush called the Shewmaker Center “a partner of business and industry, not simply an outside provider of goods and services.”