28 Castlegar News 1988 Review, March 30, 1968

FORESTRY PROGRAM . . . Student at work on contour — as part of forestry program offered at Selkirk College.

welding certification. Students learn to operate industrial equipment such as a 10-foot hydraulic shear, a 100-ton brake and other equipment related to metal fabrication. Students gain practical experience by working on real projects and learn construction techniques used to fabricate tanks, cargo compartments and cabinets.

Selkirk College's Ski Resort Operation and Manage ment (SROAM) program trains men and women for a wide range of positions in the ski industry. All students receive instruction in lift operations, snow grooming, snowmaking, marketing, public rel . ski area plannii skills, service and operations management skills, service and operations management. Students select a specialty in either inside or outside operations. Inside operations include additional studies in marketing and public relations, ski rental/retail management, accommodation and food and b g Stud ing the outside operations specialty take instruction in welding, electricity,

hanies, and p i i :

In the Fine Woodwork and Carpentry program at Selkirk College students acquire a strong foundation of woodworking skills. It is a flexible program that serves the needs of hobbyist and those with small business interests.

Topics included in the Fine Woodwork and Carpentry program are as follows: skillful use of hand and power tools, understanding wood and materials, designing and planning projects, history of furniture and tools, identification of period furniture, fundamental shop skills for furniture and cabinet construction, building construction and_ site planning, basic restoration, renovation and repair.

Trades Training

Selkirk College's Nelson Campus is the trades training centre. This program trains students for entry level positions in the electrical, mechanical and metal working trades. All trades training students first enrol in a common core program which teaches basic skills common to the practice of all trades. Safety, tool use, problem solving techniques, and the introduction to welding and electrical trades are covered in the common core.

Students completing this first level are then eligible to move on to the occupation core, a series of skills applicable to a family of occupations, the metal or mechanical trades, for example. Finally, based on demonstrated competency and aptitude, students select a specialty. In the mechanical occupation line it may include automotive mechanic, heavy duty mechanic, commercial transport mechanic, recreational and light equipment mechanic, or, fire apparatus mechanic.

From among the metal trades, students may elect to follow the hi millwright spe: y or, having Pp elect to pursue the automotive machinist specialty. The electrical specialty is available for those completing the electrical occupational core.

Entry into trades training programs is on going, with sections starting monthly. Students work on modularized instructional packages at their own speed and must demonstrate competence in one section before proceeding on to the next, Some upgrading programs, particularly for electrical and mechanical trades are available.

Home Study

If you are interested in continuing your. formal education, find it difficult to attend a campus at Selkirk College, and the idea of studying at home appeals to you, consider Home study through Selkirk College. College credit courses in Accounting, Biology, Chemistry, English, History, Math, P: gy, Physics and Sociology are avail- able and are taught by a tutor who is ready to assist students with the written or tape learning packages pro- vided. Some are televised on the Knowledge Net- work. Tutors maintain regular contact with students by mail and by telephone. Some courses may require occasional face- to-face seminars or labs.

A variety of general interest non-credit courses are also offered through the Knowledge Network, All courses have reading materials that are mailed to students and tutors are available to assist students through the course. Lists of general interest courses may be obtained from your nearest Selkirk College Learning Centre.

Continuing Education

Selkirk College, either independently or in co-operation with regional school districts, makes available credit and non-credit courses, vocational upgrading, special and general interest courses in communities throughout the college region.

Learning sessions may vary from lectures to workshops and include opportunities for short-term, full time and part-time study.

Courses offered range from Airbrakes and Professional Driver Training, to C.O.R.E. hunting training and industrial first aid, all levels of Adult Basic Education, computer literacy training, office skills, small business seminars, to general interest courses such as candymaking, cooking, up holstery, sewing, weaving, spinning, drawing and calli graphy to cite just a few examples of the diversity a- Je

Continuing Education courses are available through every Selkirk College Adult Learning Centre.

Centres are located in Grand Forks, Midway, Trail, Castlegar, Nelson, Nakusp, Crescent Valley and Kaslo.

All centres are now linked by computer to the college mainframe instructional computer to permit delivery of courses via tel ications. A variety of micr puter courses and tutorials for the general public and the business community are available as well as small business manage ment seminars and courses.

These programs, combined with the equipment now located in each college centre give the widest possible accessibility for the public to participate in the computer revolution.

FINANCIAL AID, . . Selkirk College Foundation Association president Jim Howard presents student with bursary. Foundation provides scholarships

and bursaries to needy students.

Centre helps business

In its first year of operation Selkirk College's West Kootenay Enterprise Development Centre has helped 162 people find full- and part-time jobs, and assisted entre- preneurs in establishing their own b :

A total of 77 full-time jobs, 56 part-time jobs and 29 small businesses were a direct result of people attending training courses and seminars at the Centre from January, 1986 to March 1987.

“The bottom line is jobs,” says WKEDC co-ordinator Doug Glover, who is assembling the figures for this year's successes right now “Taking people off the unemployment rolls and the social assistance programs (is WKEDC’s manu- date).”

The Castlegar office “is strongly associated with Sel- kirk’s business administration program,” says Glover, but it does not use college funding to operate. The WKEDC comes under excellence in education funding from the provincial government.

Glover says there is a demand for assistance for unemployed people who want to start businesses but don't know how.

“We've been run off our feet and have been kept very busy since we opened,” says Glover. There were 400 non-duplicated visits in the first year of operation. The WKEDC serves the area from Beaverdell to Kootenay Lake and from Nakusp to the U.S. border.

“Hundreds of people come in on a regular basis for seminars, training, business advice and consulting,” says Glover. “The service is available at no cost to anybody who wishes to get ahead.”

The WKEDC is also assisting Canada Manpower and the business development centres in Trail and Nelson under

the federal Community Futures program and has recently initiated an educational small business immersion program focusing on six major areas.

“There is a shift in emphasis to analyzing busi in trouble due to marketing or financial problems,” Glover says. “A job saved is a job made.”

The six main subject areas in the small business immersion program are management, finance, marketing, production, human resource management and computer analysis.

Participants study the different areas to enrich their

i ities of owning and operating a small business and also look at ways to solve problems should they arise.

“When they leave they'll have the basic skills needed to commence a business or to improve the business they are already running,” says Glover.

The WKEDC is also looking at other areas in the future to keep up with the ch d ds in the y and the economy's effects on the business community.

“We look to expand our services to counselling businesses with problems and networking with other economic offices-in the area,” Glover says.

He hasn't calculated the total figures for the WKEDC successes for the 1987-88 year but anticipates the number of people finding work or starting businesses will “be equal to or more than the first year.”

Glover says the WKEDC is an important source of education for interested entrepreneurs in the area and he is certain the area will benefit from its continued operation and performance. ~

under of the

A Few Good

il... funds contri-

buted to the Selkirk College foundation are eligible for dollar matching from prov- incial revenues, making your contribution twice as effective.

EDUCATION . .

A priceless gift.

Reasons To

e a ‘Tg. 4

haae oe

Foundation

Funds raised through en- dowments or donations to the Foundation are used primarily for assisting stu- dents in their quest for higher education.

We're Here to Help You!

a

Whether You Are interested In Starting A New Business, Or Already Have One, We Have Big Help for Small Business Entrepreneurs

In addition, Selkirk College progams benefit from the support and enhancement aftorded by contributions from the Foundation.

The Selkirk College Foun- dation is a registered char- itable organization which allows all contributions to be tax deductible.

YOURS TO GIVE BY SUPPORTING THE

@ i“ seKiRK & COLLEGE

FOUNDATION

Free Services We Offer

Advice and Counselling

* business plans cash flow projections market analysis market research grant and subsidy information partnerships and incorporations patents

Services for Clients

* office space * secretarial assistance * computer capabilities

Information Library © video tapes * manuals © statistical data © B.C. Enterprise literary package © community profiles

BUSINESS ° “How to Start a Business” PROGRAMS ° “immersion Program in Small

(With a Nominal Fee) Business”

WEST KOOTENAY ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT CENTRE _.n..

Box 1200, Castlegar, B.C. VIN 3J1 (604) 365-7292

A Service of Selkirk College 8:30-4:30

MON.-FRI,

le ie 1410 Columbia Ave., Castlegar * 365-5886

Castlegar News 1988 Review, March 30, 1986 29 |

Recreation West Kootenay style

deouasnsaaeevnvenvveevtoennsvnveeuuvuusensnceevneyaseuvaaneenvaatoueeyetonnsanaeusvusanavevsvoneeneendeocgnunsuceantcusvuvsecseceoeaeniasneseonusgevaveeeassgnonveneseveavernenn4sguuvatt

SKIING

Ski hills right at our doorstep

While there aren't any ski hills right in Castlegar, the city is within a snowball throw of some excellent

d's Red Mountain, where the women's World Cup downhill and super giant slalom events went off without a hitch earlier this month, is the main destination of Castlegar-area skiers.

Red offers a wide variety of terrain for every level of skiing ability. There are a total of 23 marked trails serviced by four lifts on two separate mountains. There are also numerous unmarked areas which provide some excellent out-of-the-way skiing.

The Red Mountain double chair services Red Mountain with a vertical drop of 435 metres and a length of 1,200 metres. The skiing on this hill takes the skier through steep, fast chutes that provide some wild, white-knuckle skiing..The T-bar goes half-way up the side of Red with a 136-metre drop over a length of 610 metres. The T-bar provides good, wide beginner's terrain.

The Granite Mountain double chair is a lengthy ride to the top of Granite Mountain which services a 2,500-metre-long area with a vertical drop of 920 metres. Granite offers runs for ii di and advanced skiers and was the site of the women's World Cup downhill and super giant slalom events.

But the Granite chair also leads to the Paradise triple chair. The Paradise chair services the backside of Granite and is popular with local skiers looking to improve their tan. The sun beats down on the Paradise side where happy sun worshippers doff their skis to lie in a snow bank and bag some rays.

The 415-metre vertical drop over 1,100 metres in length provides mainly intermediate and beginner's terrain with some reasonable tree skiing in the areas between Silver Sheep and Gambler.

The ski season is usually four to five months long extending from early December to March or early April.

Services include a day lodge at the bottom of the hill with a cafeteria and licensed lounge. There is a ski school, child care facilities and a ski shop which rents, sells and repairs equipment.

Red Mountain celebrated 40 years of serving area skiers this year and is looking ahead to the next 40 years.

Possible improvements include a day lodge at the top of Granite and year-round activities on the hill. But these improvements still need more planning and time.

Cross-country enthusiasts can ski the Blackjack cross-country area adjacent to Red Mountain. The area offers more than 50 km of machine-groomed track laid out in a variety of interesting loops.

Nelson's Whitewater ski area is another area popular with Kootenay skiers. The hill boasts an average annual snowfall of six metres and the season runs from late November to early April.

There are 22 cut runs serviced by two double chairs and one T-bar. The vertical drop totals 396 metres over 762 linear metres.

Fifty per cent of the runs are for advanced skiers, 30 per cent for intermediate and 20 per cent for beginners.

The hill has a ski shop, ski schools, equipment rentals, a bar and cafeteria and a first aid station.

WINTER FUN... (clockwise, from top right) powder hound on Whitewater ski area; no lineups for lift on Red Mountain; young skier learns the snowplow soaking up the rays on the Red Mountain lodge deck; hitting a jumpat Whitewater