Published August 2001

Puget Sound Center offers array of high-tech programs

By John Wolcott
Herald Business Journal Editor

Puget Sound Center is the county’s newest training center for information technology, offering courses aimed at filling some of the thousands of high-tech jobs that go unfilled each year.

WSA (formerly the Washington Software Association) estimates from its employment survey that there are approximately 14,000 unfilled jobs in the state’s technology industry.

“We’re offering lots of programming classes, network security training and Web development. Next fall we’ll expand our offering to include Cisco equipment training in state-of-the-art classrooms,” center Executive Director Bill McMeekin said.

The center’s newest program, under a $1,069,000 Technology Challenge Grant from the U.S. Department of Education, offers technology training for teachers from the Edmonds, Mukilteo, Shoreline and Seattle school districts to help them integrate technology into their classroom curriculum.

Bothell-based Puget Sound Center also is working with TechCorps to provide additional technology support by using corporate and community-based volunteers, who are information technology professionals, to partner with teacher leaders for training and support.

“We’re also trying to partner with community-based organizations to provide technology training and working with WorkSource and Welfare to Work programs to provide training. And, we’re working this summer with middle-school kids from the Edmonds School District for technology cybercamps, sponsored by the Lynnwood Rotary,” McMeekin said.

The center is a private, nonprofit collaboration between Edmonds and Shoreline community colleges, funded by corporate contributions, private endowments and government grants.

For more information, contact the center at Canyon Park Business Center, 22002 26th Ave. SE, Suite 101, Bothell, WA 98021; call 425-640-1950; or visit the center’s Web site, www.pugetsoundcenter.org.

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