May 21, 2008
For Immediate Release

RCCC Offers Training Courses
For Electrical Maintenance, Engineering Personnel

             SALISBURY, N.C. - Responding to a critical shortage of maintenance technicians trained for specialized electrical engineering jobs, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College is offering two, single-day courses in ControlLogix Systems. The short courses are designed to help improve performance, increase production uptime and reduce dependency on outside vendors for emergency service.

             Those interested in the training can choose from a level-one basics course or a level-two troubleshooting course.

             RCCC will offer the "Basics of ControlLogix Systems" June 3 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The "Introduction to ControlLogix Troubleshooting" will follow June 4 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The registration fee for each class is $50. Both classes focus on the Logix5000 System and will meet at RCCC's Cabarrus Business & Technology Center, located at 660 Parkway North in Concord.

              The training courses are designed for electrical maintenance and engineering technicians who have experience maintaining electrically controlled systems, basic Microsoft Windows navigation skills, plus a working knowledge of common ladder logic instructions. The level-one basics class or similar knowledge is a prerequisite for the level-two troubleshooting class.

             Kyle Swing of Rockwell Automation, an RCCC continuing education and focused industry training instructor, will teach the course. Call RCCC's Department of Continuing Education at 704-216-3598 to register.

              According to Joel Leonard, a maintenance industry trainer in Greensboro, N.C., and content contributor for PlantServices.com, the maintenance industry is losing its most qualified workers at an alarming rate through retirement and attrition.

              "In the next eight years, 200,000 positions for industrial electricians are expected to open, with starting salaries as high as $70,000," Leonard said. "At least 107,000 jobs for commercial plumbers and pipe fitters will emerge. And contractors can't find enough skilled HVAC technicians. These salaries could reach $80,000, plus benefits. Skilled workers are more precious than gold."

              For more information about RCCC's industrial and engineering technology programs and related career fields, contact Dean Gary Bigelow at 704-216-3900 or bigelowg@rowancabarrus.edu.

           Rowan-Cabarrus Community College is a comprehensive, community-based institution of higher learning, serving the citizens of Rowan and Cabarrus Counties. RCCC offers approximately 40 programs of study in business, health and human services and engineering technologies at multiple campus locations. RCCC annually provides more than 2,000 course offerings, serving an enrollment of approximately 20,000 adult students. RCCC programs include an associate degree in arts and sciences, an associate degree in applied science, and diploma and certificate programs focusing on workforce training, continuing education and basic skills education.

           In addition, RCCC provides the education and job-training programs needed to meet many of the workforce demands of the North Carolina Research Campus, under construction in Kannapolis, N.C.

           For complete details, see the RCCC website at www.rowancabarrus.edu.