WESTERLY – On Tuesday the Westerly Education Center announced it received a $394,124 Real Jobs Rhode Island grant to develop a job training program for 11 employers in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
In a statement, Amy Grzybowski, the center’s executive director, said she and her team were “grateful” for the grant which she said “will boost the employability of many people.”
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Employers involved include Pfizer out of Groton, Conn., Amgen in West Greenwich, Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence, Toray Plastics in North Kingstown, Coventry’s Rhodes Pharmaceuticals, Grey Sail Brewing in Westerly, Thielsch Engineering in Cranston and Kenyon Industries.
Grzybowski explained Pfizer, in need of process technicians, experts in controlling the mixture of ingredients and their resulting output employed in various manufacturing fields, reached out to the center to build a “boot-camp-style” training program.
Glenn Wilcox, director of CRD API manufacturing at Pfizer, said the program will hopefully fill an employment gap felt by many, not just Pfizer.
“The boot camp will offer practical training so that individuals with no, or little experience can meet the minimum qualifications to start working as process technologists after completing the course,” he said in prepared remarks.
Faculty at the Community College of Rhode Island, in tandem with University of Rhode Island acting as an evaluator, will craft the curriculum.
Emily Gowdey-Backus is a staff writer for PBN. You can follow her on Twitter @FlashGowdey or contact her via email, gowdey-backus@pbn.com.
