Brooklyn's Progress
April/May 2008

BY LOIS BLADES-ROSADO, Ed.D.
 
It is evident that the Brooklyn and New York City economies are sliding slowly downward. As they do, unskilled workers will be the first to lose their jobs, followed by the elimination of entry-level semi-skilled positions.

In moments like this, it is important to inform and remind small businesses and the public that there are still very affordable workforce development institutions available to them in Brooklyn, and now is the time for workers to be retrained and made ready for the next upswing.

The State University of New York made a commitment in 1966 to serve the low-income populations throughout New York City and State by establishing Educational Opportunity Centers. Our borough is fortunate to house one of the first centers, called the Brooklyn Educational Opportunity Center, located in MetroTech in Downtown Brooklyn.

The Brooklyn Educational Opportunity Center (BEOC) is part of a system of educational enterprises that serve as a model for community workforce development, contribute to the design of the one-stop system, and is a significant part of the economic engine serving low-income communities for over 41 years. 

An institution of higher education administers each Educational Opportunity Center to ensure that its graduates continue upgrading their credentials after completing various academic and workforce development programs. The New York City College of Technology administers the Brooklyn EOC, which offers a comprehensive array of academic and student support services that help students to move towards their goals and dreams.

BEOC offers academic programs in English as a Second Language for the professions, GED preparation and College Preparation for individuals in need of additional assistance to pass college entry exams. This last program is also available on the campus of the College of Staten Island. 

BEOC workforce development programs such as Computer Technology for the Workplace, Computer Networking Technologies, Computerized Bookkeeping, Medical Office Administration and Office Support-MS Office (Information Processing Technology), Medical Billing and Coding help move students into middle skill jobs that sustain the infrastructure of New York City. Its newest offering, in collaboration with Kingsborough Community College, is Hospitality Management. Plans are underway to offer CPR classes, Phlebotomy and Digital Literacy.

In additional to its excellent academic programs, BEOC has a wide array of student support services such as personal and career counseling, library and tutorial services,  and employment placement assistance. BEOC is a GED and Work Readiness Credential test site and these services are all open to Brooklyn residents. The BRIDGE Employment Services unit assists participants in tackling barriers to employment and enables them to re-enter the work arena with increased confidence and self-esteem.

The best-kept secret of all is that these services are tuition-free to eligible residents of Brooklyn and New York City.

There is one last service offered by the Brooklyn Educational Opportunity Center and that is their four and soon to be five, community technology centers called ATTAIN (Advanced Technology Training and Information Networking Project) Labs that are in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Farragut/Fort Greene, on the BEOC campus and one soon to open in Bushwich.  A manager, who arranges digital literacy classes, teaches Internet usage and helps residents tap into the varied modularized workforce programs available in the labs is on hand. 

BEOC also develops special programs in partnership with employers or community based agencies. The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce recently used BEOC labs for staff development training. Last September, the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. hosted a delegation from Tanzania, in collaboration with the Brooklyn Chamber.

Over 250,000 residents have received assistance through the Brooklyn Educational Opportunity Center, and its graduates have contributed over $1.7 billion dollars to the city and state economy.  In recognition of its work, the Robin Hood Foundation recently awarded the BEOC a grant that will help it increase its student placement services.

The great borough of Brooklyn is fortunate to have workforce services ranging from tuition free continuing education enterprises to city, state and private higher education institutions that draw individuals from every borough and worldwide. Brooklyn’s educational institutions can support the growing need to serve youth and retrain the unemployed, under-employed, dislocated and incumbent workers in order to sustain the economic engine of this great borough.

Dr. Lois Blades-Rosado is the dean and executive director of the SUNY Brooklyn Educational Opportunity Center (BEOC). To learn more, go to http://www.bklyn.eoc.cuny.edu/.