Ontario college unveils program to tackle skills shortage

Sheridan’s Continuing and Professional Studies division will partner with power transmission industry leaders to offer an intensive, 16-week, Industrial Distribution Program. From left to right, members of the IDP program steering committee: Rossana Gorys, Associate Director Continuing & Professional Studies, Sheridan College; Paul Meo, President and CEO, NTN Bearing Corporation of Canada Ltd.; Cindy Russell, Sales Director Canada, Continental ContiTech; Dr. Janet Morrison, President, Sheridan College; Hazel McCallion, Chancellor of Sheridan College; Jos Sueters, Vice President, Tsubaki of Canada Limited; Matt McCloy, Director of Sales & Marketing, Regal Beloit Canada ULC; Vanessa Antonoff, Branch Manager, BDI Canada Inc.; and Nazlin Hirji, Director, Continuing and Professional Studies, Sheridan College.

Sheridan College’s Continuing and Professional Studies division has partnered with power transmission leaders to offer an intensive 16-week, Industrial Distribution Program (IDP) focused on the distribution of bearings, power transmission products, and other industrial parts.

The program comprises eight weeks in class, followed by an eight-week paid work placement.

It is sponsored by an industry sector educational partnership that includes NTN Bearing Corporation of Canada, Tsubaki of Canada Ltd., Continental, Regal Beloit Corporation, and BDI Canada Inc.

Instructors from each organization will present workshops as part of the IDP curriculum.

“The Industrial Distribution Program is a dynamic educational program that will broaden the knowledge of many students coming into the power transmission market place,” said Cindy Russell, Continental ContiTech’s sales director for Canada.

She said she expects to program to provide Continental ContiTech with a source of well-trained job candidates to support its future business growth.

Courses will focus on the key functional disciplines relevant to distribution, giving students the opportunity to link classroom instruction with hands-on training in a company within the industrial machinery segment. Course workshops will feature distribution management, territory sales, marketing, negotiation skills, inventory management, sales management, human resources, leadership and information technologies.

Upon completion of the program, students will have the opportunity to apply for eight-week paid work placements with leading manufacturers and industrial parts distributors of bearings and mechanical power transmission products.

“NTN has a long-standing commitment to corporate social responsibility and always takes an active role in the communities in which we do business,” said Paul Meo, president and CEO of NTN Bearing Corporation of Canada. “We are excited about the opportunity for NTN to partner with power transmission industry leaders in Canada to enable students at Sheridan College to advance quickly from the Industrial Distribution Program into a career in the bearing transmission industry.”

The unique curriculum offered at Sheridan College will be designed to provide students with the information, knowledge and skills that are highly valued by potential employers in the industrial distribution and manufacturing sector.

The program will be delivered at Sheridan’s Davis Campus in Brampton, starting in January.

An information fair will take place on Nov. 14 at Sheridan’s Davis Campus to enable students to learn more about the curriculum and work placement opportunities.

Sheridan College educates approximately 23,000 full-time and 21,000 continuing and part-time students every year on three campuses in three Ontario cities – Oakville, Brampton and Mississauga.