August 2015 – Ring the Bell

Community Partner

This month, our Community Partner Ring the Bell winner is Aaron Jensen of ProTRAIN. Aaron has been working with Career Path Services for a little over a year as one of our community partners.  Stephanie Akker from our Benton Franklin WIOA team nominated Aaron and had these things to say about him:

What makes your nominee a great partner?

Aaron  is an exceptional community partner, serving our local workforce as a computer-based training provider. He always goes above and beyond by making sure our participant’s training needs are met, and his training is tailored to meet programmatic requirements. When we told Aaron he needed to be on the ETPL list, he structured his programs to meet the state requirements as well as the requirements specific to WIOA programs.

What part of the community does your nominee serve?

Aaron serves local businesses by providing computer based training and hands on IT Specialist certifications. His networking and outreach skills build bridges to local employers, community partners, and individuals within our community.

What specific story or example relating to the partnership would you like to share?

Aaron personifies customer service. If we have a training need, he goes above and beyond to figure out how he can help. He tailors his programs to meet specific needs of our clientele. He brings in our Career Path Services team members for free training sessions to experience ProTRAIN first hand. He anticipates market trends and stays current in offering course which are relevant and applicable for our local labor market. He offers additional tutoring and refresher courses, free of charge, for students who have been through his training programs. He returns phone calls and e-mails promptly.

I know that if I have a question, it will be answered within 24 hours or less. Aaron is a pleasure to partner with in serving our community.

Employee Award

Your management team is ringing the bell for each other this month. Annually during the last week in July we gather for Cabfest – a 2 ½ day working retreat.  Together we seek inspiration, receive and share training, conduct business review and development, share best practices, and problem solve.  We also spend about two hours in a Circle of Thanks, expressing gratitude to those we appreciate, including individuals in the circle with us, other co-workers, family, friends.

This year George asked us to express Mahalo – a Hawaiian word meaning ‘thank you with love.’  We did, and the appreciation, love, and tears all flowed freely.  This 25+ year tradition is at least somewhat intimidating to each of us, and challenges us to show our vulnerable under-bellies and express our own truths.  It consistently leaves me feeling incredibly blessed to be part of the Career Path Service’s family, and amazed and impressed at the quality of the individuals on the leadership team.

We hereby salute and celebrate each other on the management team, with all of our diverse strengths and challenges!    Together, we are better, smarter, and stronger than we are individually – and we are honored to represent Career Path Services.

We also send blessings and deep appreciations to every employee for your care and dedication to our organizational ideals and to the customers we serve.   Mahalo to all of us.