The workforce in southern Rhode Island got a helping hand in getting crucial training when the state opened the Westerly Education Center four years ago. Since then, thousands of people have taken courses and have been hired by nearby employers such as General Dynamics Electric Boat.
Now the northern end of the state is about to get the same treatment.
State higher education officials have started construction on what had been tentatively called the Northern Rhode Island Higher Education Center in downtown Woonsocket, a workforce development program that could provide a pipeline of skilled employees to large employers such as CVS Health Corp. and Fidelity Investments Inc.
“Woonsocket is often underserved – its unemployment rate is typically at least one or more percentage points higher than the state average,” said Amy Grzybowski, the director of the Westerly Education Center who is also expected to direct the northern Rhode Island center. “It is an opportune spot, not only for the people but for the employers.”
The R.I. Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner is set to lease and build out a 14,700-square-foot space on the third floor of a partially vacant building at 95-117 Main St. in Woonsocket that decades ago played a central role in the mill city’s commercial district.
The project will cost about $4 million to $5 million, which includes the cost of operating for the first year, according to Grzybowski. More than $2 million has been donated by private entities and anonymous donors.
The center, which will feature a mock CVS store, classrooms, computer laboratories, a customer service center and customized space for hands-on, industry-ready training programs, is expected to open in late 2021 or early next year. The name of the center has not been finalized.
‘It is an opportune spot, not only for the people but for the employers.’
AMY GRZYBOWSKI, R.I. Higher Education and Industry Centers executive director
Grzybowski said the goal is to serve 500 people at the center in the first year, and enrollment is expected to grow after that.
“Rhode Island businesses, especially those located in northern Rhode Island, have had an urgent need for employees, and even more so now after the pandemic,” she said. “We will help transform the workforce there from some soon-to-be obsolete jobs, to more longer-term and lucrative career pathways.”
The Woonsocket center will follow the blueprint of the Westerly Education Center, which partners with private companies and the R.I. Department of Labor and Training to offer workforce development training and classroom space for the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College and the Community College of Rhode Island.
The origins of the Westerly center can be traced back to a conversation between state Rep. Samuel A. Azzinaro, D-Westerly, and developer Charles Royce.
“Out of the blue, he said, ‘You know what this town needs is a community college in downtown Westerly,’ ” Azzinaro said of his initial talk with Royce. “He’s a very educated-minded person, and he loves community colleges.”
Azzinaro liked the idea, thinking that a higher education center in downtown Westerly would complement Royce’s efforts to preserve the area’s character. Royce, one of the partners behind the rebuilding of the Ocean House in 2010, offered $2 million as startup funding. State leaders said they’d get on board if the facility included job skills training.
General Dynamics Electric Boat, which employs thousands in North Kingstown, was identified as an employer needing to bolster its workforce, and the company signed on to develop a curriculum based on the skills it needed from workers. A new building was constructed on 2½ acres on Friendship Street in Westerly.
“What was born was the Westerly Education Center,” said Grzybowski, who has served as its director since 2017. She is also executive director of the Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner’s R.I. Higher Education and Industry Centers.
Grzybowski said the Westerly center has delivered better results than anticipated, putting 6,000 employees into the workforce at Electric Boat over more than four years.
It’s hoped the Woonsocket postsecondary center, which has been in the works since 2018, will also unite employers with educators to bolster the regional workforce and its economy.
Woonsocket Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt said the center’s location in the commercial district is vital to bring back the city’s economy and its workforce, which had been hurt by the pandemic.
“We all know that for many years across the state and across the country that main streets have been darkened. It’s not the 1950s and ’60s when things were bustling,” she said. “And our main street was challenged, like many others.”
Azzinaro agreed that these types of centers can be helpful in building a workforce decimated by the pandemic. “We have got to get people back to work. Everybody is looking for help. Everywhere you go, there is a sign on the door – help wanted,” he said.
The state’s public colleges will offer courses throughout the year in Woonsocket, ranging from general education to graduate level. GED courses will also be provided by a local education organization. Private businesses and organizations will be able to rent classrooms for training or meetings.
The Woonsocket center’s employer partners will be AAA Northeast, CVS and Fidelity. Its state partners are the DLT, the R.I. Department of Education, the R.I. Executive Office of Commerce and the Governor’s Workforce Board.
“What is neat about working for the office of postsecondary is we can kind of be the hotel of the higher ed workforce opportunities so that we can meet the demand of the employers,” Grzybowski said.
Cassius Shuman is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Shuman@PBN.com.