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October
8, 2002, Bakersfield, CA—
The
Small Business Development Center of the Weill Institute of Bakersfield
College has announced the funding of the Industry-Driven, Regional
Collaborative (IDRC) grant to be administered through Taft College. The grant, originally conceived
and written by Mr. Randy Innis, essentially replicates the Kern
County Export Development Program (KCEDP) model that was funded by the
County of Kern from 1998-2001. Mr.
Innis was the Director of that program and interacted with a myriad of
service providers that included the U.S. Department of Commerce,
California State University, Bakersfield, Employer’s Training
Resource, the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) and others.
The IDRC
grant will allow for a full-time director in Mr. Glen Roberts who is
also under contract with the U.S. Department of Commerce as the Director
of the Export Assistance Center. Mr.
Roberts will have funding to pay for student interns to interact with
small businesses on-site in the Bakersfield community interested in
pursuing sales to the global market.
Through a series of due diligence task functions the students
will systematically guide the companies through the preparation of
achieving international success as demonstrated by Wellhead, Inc. and
Stotler Company. Wellhead,
Inc., a participant in the KCEDP, was recently awarded the President’s
E Award, only one of 17 companies in the U.S. to receive the award this
year for excellence in exporting. Stotler
Company also received a Meritorious Achievement Award from the U.S.
Department of Commerce Secretary Don Evans.
The
funding for the IDRC was awarded by the Chancellor’s Office of CA
Community Colleges over a two year period for $276,000 a year. Renewal of an additional three
years is possible if the program reaches the objectives and milestones. |
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