South Texas College opens office in Mission EDC’s CEED building

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MISSION, Texas – South Texas College, in partnership with the Mission Economic Development Corporation, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of a new office space within the EDC’s Center for Education and Economic Development.

The new office will be home to STC’s Office of Academic Affairs and Economic Development and will serve as a hub for educational training and apprenticeship programs focused on upskilling and job recruitment.

“Obviously, it’s much more than an office and just symbolic of our collaboration that we have here,” said Teclo Garcia, Mission EDC CEO. “…It’s about offering apprenticeship levels, certificates and other things that our workforce really needs. And, if we want to develop our workforce, we have to do these partnerships. We are not an education provider; STC is.”

In his remarks to attendees, Garcia also highlighted the appeal to potential businesses of having another education institution in their coworking space that can help them meet their employee needs.

“This is a great opportunity for us to do that – to increase our skill level and readiness to attract the employers that Mission really, truly deserves to recruit so that we can provide jobs for Mission and the area, not just for the city.”

STC President Ricardo Solis spoke of the partnership and its alignment with the current needs of today’s students.

“The students of today are a different breed that we’ve seen, especially after the pandemic, and their expectations are immediacy, they want to see relevancy, they want to see a return on their investment,” said Solis. “…This is what STC is all about in providing these relevant careers.”

Carlos Margo, dean of Advanced Training and Apprenticeships at STC, agreed, highlighting that today’s students come in all ages and educational backgrounds, all of whom STC is prepared to serve.

“We are about lifelong learning, continuing education, and the intent is whether you’re a youth, an adult, a retiree, it’s never too late to learn, to unlearn and relearn, and that’s the key right now in today’s workforce in the 21st century,” said Margo. “We have to be able to look at the new advancements in technology and learn and drop old habits and start new opportunities.”

Though the office itself is small, Margo says access to conference rooms and lab space as well as the opportunity to mingle with and collaborate with other businesses next door was a huge draw for the college.

“What this offers us, here in Mission, is an opportunity to expand our services,” said Margo. “And, anytime we’re able to expand our presence in a community, get closer to business and industry, get closer to the community at large, it’s a good day for South Texas College.”

Putting their new tenancy to good use, STC held an Employer Forum prior to the ribbon-cutting to inform businesses of their Registered Apprenticeship Programs. Hosted by Margo and STC Vice President and Provost for Academic Affairs Anahid Petrosian, the forum presented employers with rules, regulations and current apprenticeship opportunities available through the college.

Of note were distinguishing factors between an apprenticeship and an internship that would make a difference for an employer. In general, a registered apprenticeship program is a longer commitment for students that is focused on mastering a specific skill or skill set, is paid and will result in a credential recognized by the Department of Labor. Margo also shared statistics that showed apprentices will most likely stay with the employer they trained under, a win-win for both sides.

Moreover, STC promoted their expertise in being able to tailor an apprenticeship program to a business’s specific needs. The forum concluded with a testimonial from Diana Gonzalez, risk management manager at Noble Texas Builders, who used STC to tailor an apprenticeship program for her business and was very satisfied with both the program and apprentices with whom they employed.

“STC has been very beneficial in targeting the right path [for students],” said Gonzalez. “So, when he [Margo] says they will tailor the program, they will tailor the program. So, our next thing we are trying to feed STC is ‘can we do a project management apprenticeship?’ And I know we’re getting there, so I’m excited for that because we are constantly hiring because we are growing, and we’re trying to meet the demands for our San Antonio and Houston office.”

Solis appeared at the end of the forum and said a few final words about the impact and importance of apprenticeships across different industry sectors for potential employees and their employers.

“We are very proud that STC is a pioneer in these apprenticeships,” said Solis. “And they’re not easy, otherwise everyone would be doing them. It takes quite a lot of approvals, but it is very incentivizing to be able to have all these programs … So, we’re very excited that this is going to open up many opportunities, especially here in the Valley where we’ve seen that education has changed tremendously in the past few years. The old model of education of going to a university, is one that now is doubtful about the return on investment for the student. … The majority of our workforce graduates in our health programs that we’ve seen, they’re already in their mid-to-late 30s – the majority. The majority already come with a bachelor’s degree, or they started somewhere. And why do you think that is? Because they can’t really get a job that they want in their field or a high-paying job or high-demand. So, we’re seeing a lot of that training. It’s a little bothersome for me because I know that those students basically – I hate to say – wasted 5 years or more of their lives and they’re in debt. And so this is a program that will be able to mitigate this.”

STC offers around 16 apprenticeship programs in areas like construction, computer networks, health care, industrial mechanical maintenance and heating and air conditioning. Margo says they are approximately another 16 programs in the works at the moment and he anticipates seeing more employers involved as STC continues to promote them.

“It’s great to have the turnout we had today with employers coming out to listen more about apprenticeship programs,” said Margo. “Right now, we have about 55 employers participating in our various apprenticeship programs, but we’d really like to double that by next year at this time.”

For more information about apprenticeship programs through STC or future employer forums, visit their website here.

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