JJC Earns Kudos from Customer

Coordinating the Joliet Junior College (JJC) T-Building Conference Center is not an easy job. It requires obsessive organizational skills and a fierce commitment to customer service.

"My job is to satisfy all requests from our clients," said Kathy Dolosic, contract training specialist and conference center planner for JJC's Corporate and Community Services (CCS) division. "It keeps me busy but I love it."

Dolosic's dedication to her job is reflected in a recent e-mail sent to CCS complimenting her and Nancy Eklund, CCS's front desk receptionist and information clerk, for their dedication to the needs of one of JJC's recent Conference Center clients.

"The letter came as a complete surprise to me," said Dolosic. "I was just doing my job."

In this case, her job consisted of handling all the requests from the Illinois Office of Educational Services/SIU that hosted a statewide health symposium on June 26 and 27 at the Conference Center. Those requests included everything from lunch to software installation and photocopying. All of which was done perfectly according to Linda Cozzolino, specialist in education and CRI health science technology facilitator for the Illinois Office of Educational Services. She wrote the following letter on July 1:

"I want to personally thank you (Kathy Dolosic) for the excellent service you provided for us at Joliet Junior College for our Health Science Technology Symposium. You were in constant touch with us, as we planned our arrangements, and during the Conference, you were immediately available if we had last minute details that needed to be covered. We also appreciated working with Nancy (Eklund), at the front desk. We would not hesitate to use JJC for future events. Thank you once again."

Linda Cozzolino
Specialist in Education
CRI Health Science Technology
Facilitator Illinois Office of Educational Services

The customer service provided by both Dolosic and Eklund is part of who they are, which is why they perform their jobs so well.

If you would like a similar experience with your next event, visit www.trainingupdate.org for information on our conference center.

Business Innovation Conferences Are Here

Beginning in August, there will be a number of conferences related to innovation in the workplace.

Joliet Junior College will partner with the Illinois Institute of Technology to host the first one on August 20. Business leaders and educators are invited to attend this breakfast workshop from 7:00 am to 10:30 am. Topics will include ways of teaching innovation and methods of sustaining that innovation. There also will be a number of guest speakers eager to share their insights and experience.

For more information on this breakfast workshop, contact Joseph Giunta at (815) 280-2729, or e-mail jgiunta@jjc.edu.

The second conference will be held at the Illinois Institute of Technology's Wheaton Campus September 8-9. Many large corporations will be participating including Abbot Laboratories, Arizona State University, Elkay Manufacturing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mayo Clinic, Chicago Manufacturing Center, and the Illinois Institute of Technology. Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich also endorses this conference.

A few of the topics that will be covered include Creating and Sustaining an Innovation Culture; Design thinking for Customer Driven Innovations; Steps to Become an Innovative Company; Deploying, Measuring and Improving Innovation; and much more.

Guest speakers include a virtual "who's who" in the field of innovation and learning. A brief list of them includes Sarah Miller Caldicott, great grandniece of Thomas Edison; Robert T. Haslam, professor of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Adam J. Hecktman, director, Microsoft Technology Center; Patrick Whitney, director of Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology; and many more.

To learn more about this conference visit the website at www.businessinnovationconference.com, or call (888) 530-6714.

Illinois Funds Half the Cost of Technical Training

The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) awarded a $135,000 workforce training grant to Joliet Junior College's Corporate and Community Services Division (CCS).

These funds are part of DCEO's Employer Training Investment Program and are intended to help workers keep pace with new technologies and business practices.

"The ultimate goal is to expand training dollars to keep workers and businesses in the state," said Amy Murphy, director of corporate and community services. "Over 40 businesses have participated in previous years."

The Employer Training Investment Program is part of a 21st Century job training initiative that will reimburse companies and organizations up to 50 percent of the cost of training workers.

"This program has helped dozens of area businesses upgrade workforce skills," said Murphy who cited the following companies previously served by this grant through CCS. They include:

• Akzo Nobel, LLC
• Lyondell
• Alcan Packaging, Inc.
• MCL Incorporate
• Altivity
• Pelron Industries
• Bridgeview Aerosol
• Pepperidge Farms
• Chicago Carbon Company
• Phleps Dodge
• Citgo Petroleum Corporation
• Pollman North America
• Corn Products
• Potlatch Corporation
• Crane Composites
• Reichold Chemicals
• Croda Unigema
• Rexnard Industries
• Enerfab
• SAPA Industrial Extrusions
• ExonMobil Corporation
• Gus Berthold Electric Company
• Gerdau Ameristeel
• Stepan Company
• INEOS Americas, LLC
• Toyal America, Inc.
• John Mansville
• Whiting Corporation

For more information, contact Amy Murphy for details. She can be reached at (815) 280-1418 or e-mail amurphy@jjc.edu.

JJC Designs Electricity Workshop for DuPage Water Commission

Last March, the DuPage Water Commission contracted with Joliet Junior College to train their technical employees in electrical skills. The five-part workshop they requested covers the fundamentals of electrical and electronic circuits, including measuring voltage, current, resistance, and power.

"I was initially contacted by Chris Bostic who is the facilities construction supervisor for the water commission," said Bruce Kuzmanich, contract training manager for Joliet Junior College's Corporate and Community Services division. "Chris' boss General Manager Robert Martin wanted a proposal from us on training their employees on how to work with electrical systems and circuits safely."

Kuzmanich worked with Bostic for three months developing this workshop. "They wanted to make sure these courses would be more than just theory," said Kuzmanich. "They wanted them to be systematically structured to build electrical skills with each class. They also wanted to teach electrical principles through practical hands-on exercises that use standard industrial components and test equipment. That's why they chose JJC. We have well-equipped classrooms that simulate the real world. Our instructors have an excellent reputation, as well." The five-part series will be completed by December of this year.