GRANTEE:                   Educational Enhancement, Inc.

ADDRESS:                  21 East Long Lake Road, Suite 217

                             Bloomfield Hills, MI  48304

AMOUNT:                    $3,000,000

DURATION:                January 5, 2004 - January 5, 2007 (36 months)

POPULATION SERVED:  The project will serve a total of 610 workers; 602 incumbent workers and eight unemployed workers.  Workers will be located in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION:  A large portion of the training will be private, instructor-led, classroom-based courses delivered specifically for the partnering companies.  Course locations will vary depending on the technology needed to execute the classes, but many will be hosted by the employer partners.  Other classes will be hosted at partner training facilities and local community colleges and/or universities.  Mentoring, distance learning, on-line training, and fast-track boot camp training methods will also be utilized. 

Unemployed workers will be evaluated by a local One-Stop Center.  They will receive training through the employer program most appropriate to the needs of the company and the unemployed worker.

Occupations targeted for training include database administrators, programmers, programmer managers, systems engineers, control engineers, senior engineers, installation engineers, systems administrators, and others.

Each employer partner has committed to providing at least five percent of the training costs, or $241,000, in cash as match.  The remaining employer match of $2,759,078 will be provided through paid-employee release time and support for administrative costs.  Total match commitment is $3,000,078.

Ninety-four percent of participants will achieve certifications including information technology infrastructure (100 certifications), six-sigma (27), Oracle database administrator (97), PLC5 (30), project management professional (237), Sun certified programmer/developer (69), Sun certified system administrator (23), and others.  The grantee also commits to tracking and documenting wage increases to perform a trainee cost/benefit analysis.

KEY PARTICIPANTS:  Educational Enhancements, Denso International America, Electronic Data Systems, FANUC Robotics America, Kmart, Quicken Loans, Technology Integration Group Services, TeleVideo Studios, Oakland County (MI) Workforce Development Division.

MEDIA CONTACT:    Kristina Arnone

                            (248) 258-6888 x15