Laurence P. Gottlieb isn”™t a professor. But this fall he”™ll be a key member of a Westchester Community College team dedicated to training the present and future work force.
Gottlieb, Westchester County”™s director of economic development, will have a presence in the college”™s The Gateway Center ”“ a synergistic, green space that brings together the college”™s business and foreign language programs. The $45 million, 70,000-square-foot building opens officially Sept. 15.
“He”™ll have use of a space for conferences, meetings and seminars,” said Teresita Bango Wisell, the associate dean of the center, who is overseeing the move of various campus programs and departments into the new facility this summer. “I think Mr. Gottlieb has a strong interest in bringing potential employers to the college. We want to show employers that this is a place where we can provide training for their potential employees.”
Gottlieb agreed:
“Ultimately, (county government) must be on the frontlines where business is happening. ”¦Westchester Community College is a phenomenal resource for businesses, and so by having a presence in their new state-of-the-art building, I”™m creating a wider footprint for the Office of Economic Development, which will include expanding Westchester”™s work force training offerings and developing closer relationships with the industries we are targeting for growth, such as life science (biotech), high-tech, finance and green technologies.”
The marriage of the Office of Economic Development and The Gateway Center seems to be one made in heaven. Recently, Gottlieb was a guest speaker at the graduation ceremonies for The Academy For Entrepreneurial Excellence, a 15-week program that helps small-business owners advance their enterprises. The 11-year-old academy ”“ sponsored by the college, the county and The Business Council of Westchester ”“ will be among the components of Gateway.
So will the college”™s Professional Development Center, in which businesses hone their employees”™ skills, Wisell said:
“When Stew Leonard”™s wanted to do customer-service training, they called us, and we customized a curriculum for them.”
The academy and Professional Development Center will flow in, out of and around other business, volunteer, international-student and foreign-language programs as well as the English Language Institute ”“ the largest English as a Second Language program in the county. At its heart, The Gateway Center is an open environment of glass walkways and conversational spaces in blue and green tones, designed by Susan T. Rodriguez of Ennead architects to create a conversation between the business and foreign-language departments and thus to serve immigrant and homegrown students alike as an entrée to careers in local and international business.
“I think of it as a web,” Wisell said of The Gateway Center. “We”™re talking about the synergy between native and non-native speakers of English, between traditional business courses and our Professional Development Center. ”¦ I see all of these layers overlapping.”
