Community College Month Spotlight - Workforce Development Partners with BCSO and City Fields

Andrea Byerly
Wednesday, April 26, 2023 12:00 AM
Press Releases, Community, All

^{Photo Cutline: Pictured front row left to right: Elizabeth McDaniels, Renee Bogle, Utopia Blair, Angelica Dooley, Ruthie Hughes, Pam Dixson, Leslie Mason, Kezmond Pugh, Culinary Instructor, and Sheriff Steve Lawson. Back row left to right: Heather Brown, CSCC Director of Workforce Development; Heather Hunt, BCSO Kitchen Staff; Officer Jean Casseus, BCSO Adult Education Administrator; David Goodwill, City Fields Special Projects Coordinator; Captain Christi Walls, BCSO Jail Administrator; and Senior Lieutenant Jeremy Kanipes, BCSO.} 

CLEVELAND, TN – For more than ten years, Cleveland State Community College Workforce Development Department has partnered with City Fields to provide workforce training opportunities to the community. Originally named Impact Cleveland, City Fields combined with The Refuge and has a mission to be a catalyst for change in Cleveland’s most overlooked neighborhoods.

Together, Cleveland State’s Workforce Development and City Fields have provided Metal Inert Gas (MIG) welding bootcamps each year. The 40-hour bootcamp provides American Welding Society (AWS) certification for students along with training on soft skills, resume writing and interviewing. The partnership expanded in 2022 with HVAC bootcamps. This 80-hour bootcamp is taught in the Cleveland State HVAC Lab at the PIE Center in Cleveland and provides Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certification.

“We at City Fields are excited about our ongoing partnership with Cleveland State,” said Dustin Tommey, City Fields Executive Director. “It allows us to continue to provide job training to overlooked populations, empowering them to move forward with dignity, pride and hope.”  

This year, the partnership has expanded to include the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office. Cleveland State Workforce Development, City Fields and the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office are collaborating on two new programs for justice involved individuals. A Construction Technology Bootcamp will start in May at the PIE Center, and a Culinary Bootcamp started in April at the Bradley County Justice Center.

The culinary bootcamps are being offered to inmates within the Bradley County Justice Center. This 40-hour program utilizes the onsite kitchen at the justice center. At the completion of the bootcamp, the students will earn the ServSafe Food Handler industry certification.

With a culinary background, Kezmond Pugh is the instructor for this program. He said, “I have fallen in love with it. Not only are we teaching, but we are also pouring in to the students. Helping them build value back; that is my number one goal. You can leave with a certificate, but if you hit the street ready and knowing that you are valued, you might go a little further.”

Bradley County Sheriff Steve Lawson, said, “We set the precedent for the state with everybody working together - Cleveland State, City Fields and the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office. Everybody is on the same page. Nobody is being greedy; nobody wants to take all the accolades for this. We all want this community to get better as a whole.”

The Construction Technology Bootcamp is open to people who are justice involved. The 150-hour program provides four industry certifications: CPR, OSHA 10, NCCER Core and Forklift Certification.

The Southeast Tennessee Development District (SETDD) has provided funding for these two new programs with a Justice Involved Initiative (JII) grant while the MIG Welding and HVAC Bootcamps receive grant dollars via the local American Job Centers. City Fields is partnering to make these new programs a success with soft skills workshops, orientations, in-take and screening of participants.

“We are grateful for partnerships with the Bradley County Sheriff's Office, City Fields, SETDD and the American Job Centers,” said Dr. Ty Stone, Cleveland State President. “Our collaboration plays an integral role in strengthening re-entry and justice involved training programs. The entire community benefits when we expand and deepen our network of workforce and community partners.”

For more information about these partnerships or bootcamps, contact Cleveland State Director of Workforce Development, Heather Brown, hbrown@clevelandstatecc.edu or (423) 614-8793.