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Tallahassee Community College

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Talent Lives Here

Heidi Tyline King | 2/28/2020

World-class K-12 public schools, top-ranked universities and colleges, and a dynamic workforce training program make it easy to get schooled in Tallahassee. It’s no wonder the area is home to the most educated population in Florida.

One thing’s for certain: Education is not an afterthought in the Tallahassee area. According to Niche’s 2020 Best Schools data, the Leon County School District ranks as the seventh Best School District among the 67 districts in Florida. Nationally, the district is No. 530 of 11,838 Most Diverse School Districts in America and No. 347 of 10,815 for the Best School Districts for Athletes in America. The Leon County School District has nearly completed two major new construction and renovation projects at Fairview Middle School and Rickards High School.

Understanding that not every student wants to pursue an associate’s or bachelor’s degree, Lively Technical College, part of Leon County Schools, offers 40 career programs, 17 of which are available at night, to help train the next generation of skilled workers. Programs include training in automotives, nursing, aviation, building and construction, diesel systems, electricity, HVAC, medical and legal administration, nursing, welding, culinary arts, cosmetology, and barbering.

“Lively Technical College provides career-oriented education to the community designed to help build a skilled workforce,” says Shelly Bell, director of Career, Technical, and Adult Education for Leon County Schools and director of Lively Technical College. “It is important to recognize that there are many jobs and career pathways in our region and across the state that don’t require a traditional college degree but are in high demand and offer well-paying salaries.”

Lively continues to look at expanding program offerings to meet the workforce needs of our community. Lively partners with business and industry to ensure all training programs utilize industry-driven educational solutions and community partnerships to equip students to meet the needs of local and global employers.

A Smarter Workforce

45.5% of people 25 and older in Leon County and 37.7% within the city limits of Tallahassee have a bachelor’s degree or higher — a much higher percentage than the 28.5% estimate for the state of Florida and the highest percentage of any county in Florida.

TCC 2 The Future

Several years ago, Tallahassee Community College (TCC) made a concerted effort to provide specific classes that aligned with the major universities’ program requirements. As a result, TCC2FSU and TCC2FAMU are wildly successful, with “numbers going through the roof,” according to Alan Moran, TCC’s vice president of communications and marketing. “TCC is the No. 1 feeder school for these universities, with 75% of the college’s graduates transferring to a four-year school. Interestingly, 61% of the student body comes from outside the Tallahassee- Leon County area. About 8,000 students need apartments when they move here — that also has a big impact on our local economy.”

Simultaneously, TCC offers the TCC2WORK program as a way to fulfill its mission of providing quality training to local citizens, but also to address the ever-growing shortage of skilled workers in Florida. “We are one of two schools in the state that hasn’t eliminated the word ‘community’ in our name because that’s what we’re all about,” says Moran. “Our focus is on affordability, value, and access. To date we’ve trained 160,000 individuals who are now employed in our region.”

To date, the TCC2WORK program has 74 different job training programs available, from nursing and paralegal to air conditioning and cyber security. “Working with the business, health care, technology, and government sectors, we’ve thoughtfully created highquality, pragmatic training programs, some of which are highly specialized,” Moran says. “For example, the TCC Florida Public Safety Institute trains every Florida Highway Patrol state trooper in the state.” Some programs can be completed in four or five weeks, with a job guaranteed upon completion of the program.

Tags: Northwest, Custom Content, Tallahassee Community Portrait

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