Bellevue College is working to close the “skills gap” that exists in the region by stepping up its engagement with the business community. The effort is response to positions at area businesses going unfilled due to a lack of qualified workers.

“Companies rely on talent to grow and thrive, and our goal is to form close relationships with businesses so we can better understand what their needs are,” said BC President David L. Rule. “We can then develop programs that will provide the education and training that our students need to fill those jobs.”

BC offers an applied bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Information Technology that was developed specifically in response to demand from area healthcare providers who are making the switch to digital records. A new degree in IT, launching this fall, also came about based on key industry feedback.

A large part of the work is taking place in BC’s Continuing Education division, which offers a host of courses and certificate programs that teach in-demand skills and provide customized training for some of the largest firms in the region. Successful programs include Project Management, Business Intelligence and Data Analytics, as well as the Software Test Engineer certificate program.

With an eye toward cultivating more extensive partnerships with the business community, Continuing Education recently added four new executives with significant experience in private industry:

· Jim Bryan, director of corporate relations, was formerly the West Coast vice president of sales and director of client services for Provant, part of Global Novations at the time, which offered a wide variety of technical and soft skills training. He has worked extensively with companies such as Microsoft and Boeing.

· Radhika Seshan, executive director of programs, has held corporate positions at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies and UI Evolution. Most recently, she worked as vice president of product management for Corinthian Colleges.

· Lane Gossard, director of marketing, previously worked as a brand advocate for University of Washington Educational Outlook’s business and professional programs. Prior to this, Gossard worked with United Way for many years in development and marketing roles.

· Jeff Brunson, executive director of operations and finance, joins the team from Microsoft. His background includes global OEM partner relationships at both Microsoft and AT&T Wireless, and international entrepreneurial experiences in Guam and Japan.