National Skills Summit
Innovative Initiatives: High Tech and Sciences
Green Thumb, Inc: Got/It Training Program
The
Challenge:
To teach older workers the information technology (IT) skills they need to support themselves in the new economy, while simultaneously meeting a demand for workers by the IT industry.
The
Solution:
Enlist the technical expertise and experience of the private sector in providing intensive computer training and employment opportunities to older workers.
The
Partners:
Green Thumb, Inc., a national non-profit organization chartered in 1965 as a demonstration project for disadvantaged older rural Americans, is a leader in employment and training in 44 states and Puerto Rico.
Technology Partners: Microsoft Corporation contributes staff training, technical support, funding, and curriculum. Other technology training partners include NETg, Productivity Point International (PPI), ExecuTrain, New Horizons, and IT Works.
Business Partners: Dell Computers, Sears Home Service Customer Network, Unisys, WCOIL, Banc One, First Express, All First, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Federal Reserve Bank, among others.
The
Story:
Carol was a homemaker and mother with limited work experience when her husband died of cancer. Forced into the workforce, she began working as a clerical temp, but still could not pay the bills. She joined Green Thumb's Austin, Texas, Got/IT program and passed the A+ accreditation class, which certified her as a computer service technician. With Green Thumb's help, she interviewed at Dell Computers, where she now works as a help desk support specialist earning a competitive salary and full benefits.
Green Thumb, with the support of the U.S. Labor Department, created Got/IT in 1998 to help people like Carol. In its first two years, Got/IT armed 304 older workers with the information technology skills required to join the high-tech business world. Program graduates are qualified for immediate placement as help desk support specialists and network administrators. During the year 2000, an estimated 200 additional workers will be trained for IT jobs leading to careers in the high-tech industry.
Key to Green Thumb's success is its ability to identify and meet employers' unique demands. When local Internet service providers in Lima, Ohio, needed call desk technicians, Green Thumb and PPI customized a training program that produced a pool of specially qualified workers. One Internet service provider hired 11 participants before the training was finished.
Green Thumb's Austin program designed training for customer service personnel at Dell and Sears. The programs offered include training in Windows NT core technologies, A+ certification, and JAVA.
Green Thumb's Got/IT programs offer training in MOUS, Microsoft Certified Professional Training, Technology Industry Association A+ Certification, Internet Specialized Training and Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer Training. The average wage for a certified trainee is $10.65 an hour.
A Model of
Innovation:
It is still an uphill battle to place older workers in the high-tech industry. Many managers in the IT industry stereotype older workers as being unable to grasp new technology. By providing needed computer skills to people who might otherwise be left behind in the new economy, Green Thumb has proven that older workers are an untapped resource for the IT industry.
Contacts:
Sally Boofer
Vice President of Operations
Green
Thumb, Inc.
2000 N. 14th Street, Suite 800
Arlington, VA 22201
703-522-7272 (p)
703-522-0141 (f)
www.greenthumb.org
Highlight
quote:
"All Americans possess certain skills and life experiences
that make them valuable to the workforce in today's global economy. It is in
the economic self-interest of business to tap into that. At the Department of
Labor, we understand the value of all workers, which is why we are proud to
team up with Green Thumb and Microsoft. Our investment in Microsoft's Skills
2000 initiative will help train older workers, dislocated workers, and
disadvantaged workers to get the skills and training they need for good jobs in
the computer industry. This is a win-win."
-U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexis
M. Herman.
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