| Service Industry Academy Celebrates Very Successful First Year in Georgia | ||||
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During its first year, the metro Atlanta Regional SIA has trained and certified nearly 300 students in high demand customer service skills, with 95 percent of current graduates placed in jobs. This is a result of a unique collaboration among Atlanta area business partners, led by Jim Lientz of Bank of America.
Representatives of the partnership that developed SIA gathered at the Academy offices in Doraville to celebrate SIA's impact on area businesses and the economy. Carl Swearingen, senior vice president of BellSouth, addressed how SIA is meeting the workforce development needs of BellSouth and other partners. Ken Breeden, commissioner of Department of Technical and Adult Education, and Michael Thurmond, commissioner of Department of Labor, discussed their two agencies' partnering on this project. The celebration also included a career fair for recent graduates program candidates. At the event, DTAE awarded graduates their Certified Customer Service Specialist (CCSS) diplomas.
"Today, the service sector comprises more than 55 percent of all jobs. The academy provides a way to train workers for service jobs and to increase employment, enhancing productivity and job performance," said Breeden.
The SIA partners are 10 Atlanta businesses, seven area technical institutes, DTAE, Quick Start, and DOL. As a champion for SIA, Bank of America's support has been extensive. The company provided a central corporate training facility to DTAE and hired the entire first class of academy graduates.
The Labor Department supports the academy by referring Atlanta-area candidates for training/certification and job placement assistance. The academy provides DOL with a resource to serve candidates who may qualify for better jobs with certified customer service specialist training.
A cornerstone of the SIA curriculum, the Certified Customer Service Specialist (CCSS) training program teaches students about technology and team-based business operations, how to clearly communicate with customers, solve customer problems effectively, and positively promote/sell company products and services. The skills developed are essential in customer contact operations within a variety of industries, including information technology, banking/financial, insurance, consumer credit, telecommunications, transportation, public utilities, manufacturing, and public service. The academy also has incorporated high school joint enrollment programs to train seniors for customer service jobs.
Program applicants take a rigorous entrance exam that evaluates reading, grammar, and math skills. Students participate in 154 hours of intensely interactive classes and must demonstrate performance in all key skill areas. Program credit is transferable to other diploma or degree programs and is eligible for Georgia's HOPE scholarship funding. Statewide, the training program is offered at DTAE's 34 technical institutes with over 3,000 students enrolled in the SIA.
The metro-area technical institutes that participate in the academy are Atlanta Tech, Carroll Tech, Chattahoochee Tech, DeKalb Tech, Gwinnett Tech, Lanier Tech, and North Metro Tech. DTAE's Quick Start operates the academy.
SIA business partners include:
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For mother-daughter team Rosemary Cox and Andrea Zimmerman, attending the metro Atlanta Regional Service Industry Academy (SIA) seemed a good way to become more versatile in the marketplace.
Rosemary Cox, who earned a degree in computer programming from DeKalb Technical Institute in 1996 and now works for a software company, thought attending the SIA might benefit her 'down the road.' Although Cox plans to continue her job with the software company, she realized that she had never developed any customer service skills in her previous jobs. She thought the skills SIA could give her would help in her existing position, as well as help her attain a part-time job in customer service to supplement her income.
Cox's daughter, Andrea Zimmerman, sparked her mother's interest in the program after announcing that she planned to attend the SIA. While Cox attends the Academy two or three nights a week so she can work during the day, Zimmerman is taking the accelerated course load during the day and working part-time at night. She hopes to complete the program quickly and return to school at DeKalb Tech, where she is pursuing a degree in electronics engineering.
"I always had a goal to complete my schooling, so I went back (to DeKalb Tech) after the kids got older," Cox said. "Even though I was way behind the times
when I started, I completed my goal. My next goal is to complete my certification from the SIA."
Cox feels her SIA training has helped build self-confidence and greatly improved her communication skills. | |||
n a corporate training center provided by Bank of America in an Atlanta suburb, business and state government are quietly working together to effect tremendous change. The collaboration is the Service Industry Academy (SIA), founded on the concept of creating the skilled workforce pool required by metro Atlanta's providers of services such as banking, telecommunications and insurance.
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