August 18, 2008

OGCA

Patricia DeMers, president of Excel Thru Learning, and Ontario General Contractors Association president Clive Thurston ink a deal to provide training and development opportunities to OGCA member firms.

OGCA partners with Excel Thru Learning to offer more training courses

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer

The Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA) has teamed up with Excel Thru Learning to provide members with training and development opportunities. Many of the programs will be Gold Seal certified.

Programs will be offered on site at the OGCA offices in Mississauga and via e-learning.

To accommodate the construction environment, classroom programs will run on Saturdays, evenings and half days between Monday and Friday. All such programs will be scheduled well in advance to allow contractors to plan their time.

Excel Thru Learning (ETL), a division of Patricia DeMers & Associates, was created more than 13 years ago with the vision of “Inspiring Others to Achieve.”

Its approach is to work with businesses to motivate, inspire and improve employee effectiveness, productivity and job satisfaction by delivering innovative learning opportunities.

OGCA president Clive Thurston said he is pleased to work with such a well-respected organization. He views this partnership as the next evolution in the association’s education program.

“The OGCA has a mandate to provide education and training to the industry,” he said.

“Our efforts over the last few years have been extremely successful. With the expanding demand for Gold Seal, we needed to find a suitable partner to meet the challenge.”

He said the partnership with Excel will allow OGCA to concentrate on the updating and creation of new programs and courses with Excel delivering and assisting in course promotion.

“This initiative combines well with our development of a video education system that will come on line in early 2009.”

Thurston said the association will continue to work with community colleges in the province to introduce Gold Seal and management training into their programs.

During an upcoming tour of colleges and high schools, Thurston will be promoting careers in construction as well as Gold Seal accreditation.

So far, five colleges and several schools have registered for the presentation. The list includes Georgian College in Barrie, Mohawk College in Hamilton, Conestoga College in Kitchener and Sault College in Sault Ste. Marie.

“This will be an exciting opportunity to promote the industry to potential future employees,” Thurston said.

The tour kicks off September 8, 2008 at Georgian College.

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