GRANTEE:                   TEC Services Consulting, Inc.

ADDRESS:                  1620 Pebblewood Lane Suite 270

                             Naperville, IL 60563               

AMOUNT:                    $3,000,000

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

POPULATION SERVED:  This project will serve 1000 individuals (approximately 400 incumbent and 600 unemployed trainees) in the field of Information Technology (IT) and Computer Science.  Nine hundred and fifty of the trainees will be at the highest level of training while 50 will be placed on a career ladder toward the highest level.  The project will train 200 qualified minorities, 50 women, and 25 people with disabilities.  At least two openings in each class will be reserved for qualified veterans seeking training.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION:  This project will train individuals using a combination of traditional class time and guided projects from partnering employers.  These projects are selected for their usefulness to the partners as potential employers and will give the individual valuable experience and make them more marketable to those specific employers.  Training will take place in a variety of focus areas.  These areas include: Web Application Development Training; Database Administrator Training; Network Architect Training; Network Security Training; IT Project Management; and Technology Trainer Training.   

Partnering employers and training providers have committed to $4,140,000 in match ($2,550,000 cash contribution and $1,590,000 in-kind contribution).  This match will come in the form of facilities, training, tuition offset, and paid release time. 

This program will issue certificates from Microsoft: 200 MCSE, 400 MCAD, 400 MCSD, 100 MCDBA; Oracle: 100 OCP, 100 OCM; Cisco: 300 CCNA, 100 CCSP, 200 CCDA, 200 CCDP, 300 CCIE; CompTIA: 100 Security+, 1000 IT Project+; and other certificates such as: 100 PMI CAPM, and 100 PMP, 400 CIW Enterprise Developer.  The 400 incumbent workers will gain at least 10% in annual earnings and the 600 unemployed workers will gain employment at the average earning level of $45,000 annually.

Incumbent worker participants will be selected by the partnering employers and identified as having the skills necessary to complete and excel in the proposed training.  At least 60 percent of the incumbent trainees are to be from small businesses.  Unemployed participants will be recruited by the Workforce Boards and the local one-stop centers.  Based on the entrance criteria and assessment process, only one in four applicants will be accepted into the program. 

KEY PARTICIPANTS:  TEC Services Consulting, Inc., Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, William Rainey Harper College, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Robert Half Technology, TEK Systems. 

MEDIA CONTACT:    Greg Sutton

                            (630) 305-7486 x223