Pat Chandler (r), interim director of continuing education at Lone Star College-Montgomery, works out details of the Skills for Small Business initiative with Roxana Newton, of the Texas Workforce Commission. Thanks to this partnership, employees of small businesses are able to take free classes at LSC-Montgomery to enhance their job skills.

With the intent to help enhance local small business operations and drive market competitiveness, Lone Star College-Montgomery and the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) have partnered to offer local businesses assistance to further educate their employees.

TWC has dedicated $2 million to the Skills for Small Business initiative, a program now available through LSC-Montgomery, to support local businesses with fewer than 100 employees.  Thanks to a $20,000 contract allocated to Lone Star College, tuition and fees are available for full-time, permanent employees to be paid up to $1,450 for newly hired employees, and up to $725 for existing employees, per 12-month period.

With this program, small businesses can now offer current employees the chance to upgrade their skills, as well as train newly hired employees to better fulfill their new job requirements. Credit and continuing education courses, in both the classroom and online setting, are available to students to help increase their job effectiveness.

Courses available through the program include Project Management Exam Preparation, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint), Payroll Accounting, Lean Six Sigma, A+ Certification, Management Training and more.

The purposes of the program are not to fund an individual’s pursuit of a degree, but to enhance the performance of the entire business. Therefore, courses that are core requirements of a degree program that don’t have a clear connection to the business’s operations will not be funded.

For more information, contact Pat Chandler, interim director of continuing education at LSC-Montgomery, at (936) 273-7220, or email Patricia.L.Chandler@LoneStar.edu.

LSC-Montgomery is located at 3200 College Park Drive, one-half mile west of Interstate 45, between Conroe and The Woodlands. For more information about the college, call (936) 273-7000, or visit www.LoneStar.edu/montgomery.

Lone Star College System has been opening doors to a better community for more than 40 years. Founded in 1973, LSCS remains steadfast in its commitment to student success and credential completion.  Today, with 78,000 students in credit classes, and a total enrollment of more than 90,000, Lone Star College System is the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area and one of the fastest-growing community college systems in the nation.  Dr. Steve Head is the chancellor of LSCS, which consists of six colleges including LSC-CyFair, LSC-Kingwood, LSC-Montgomery, LSC-North Harris, LSC-Tomball and LSC-University Park, seven centers, LSC-University Center at Montgomery, LSC-University Center at University Park, Lone Star Corporate College, and LSC-Online. To learn more visit LoneStar.edu.