The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted to fund the CR smog program since there is currently nothing like it in Humboldt or Del Norte counties.
”This is a very good example of CR partnering with the community to provide much-needed programs and services,” said CR Interim President Utpal Goswami. “The need for a program like this was identified during the college’s educational master planning process in July 2011.
”I’m really pleased that we have been able to initiate this program in such a short period of time with the help of the Headwaters Fund.”
When the Headwaters old growth forest in Humboldt County was purchased in 1999 using state and federal money, Humboldt County was given $22 million to be used for economic development and the Headwaters Fund was launched.
CR’s Automotive Technology Advisory Board, consisting of local automotive technicians and business owners, recommended that CR add this training so that technicians would not have to leave the area for the biannual, state-required update trainings and new technicians could be trained locally to meet the community’s demand.
According to CR Assistant Automotive Technology Professor Paul Hidy, who will lead the new program, smog technicians usually have to drive to Shasta College in Redding, Butte College in Chico or Mendocino College in Ukiah for required trainings to take the certification exam offered by the California Bureau of Automotive Repair.
”Having the smog training program at our main Eureka campus will save working technicians time and money,” Hidy said. “We hope that eventually it will lead to CR offering smog training courses to people who want to become a professional technician.”
Hidy added that the goal is to get the program up and running in spring 2012. The trainings will be under the umbrella of CR’s Business Training Center (BTC) and offered as not-for-credit classes.
Hidy said that the courses for working smog technicians are between 20 to 28 hours. They will be offered in the evenings and on weekends to best accommodate professionals’ schedules.
”CR’s Business Training Center is always looking for opportunities to support local businesses by providing the training employees need on a local basis,” said Julia Peterson, director of CR’s BTC, centered at the CR Eureka downtown instructional site. The BTC offers not-for-credit training to employers and employees in areas including Microsoft Excel, manager and supervisor training, health care training, Certified Phlebotomy Technician training, as well as lead paint certifications, green construction and energy certifications and more.
To learn more about smog technician training contact CR’s Business Training Center at 269-4000 or stop by CR’s Eureka downtown instructional site at 605 K Street, Eureka. For CR’s Automotive Technology ASE training programs, contact CR at 269-4000 to meet with CR’s Career Technical Advisor Jennifer Knight.
The CR’s automotive program at CR offers a fully Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Certified Master Automobile Technician Training Program including coursework in all eight ASE areas. For the last eight years, the automotive program has been honored with the highest industry recognition for automotive training programs by successfully becoming an ASE, Master Certified, Training Program. The National Automotive Technician Education Foundation (NATEF), a branch of ASE, sets the highest standards recognized nationally for this type of training.
The course of study, facilities, and equipment of the institution were evaluated and found to meet these standards for excellence in the following areas; brakes, engine performance, electrical/electronic, suspension and steering, engine repair, manual drive train and axles, automatic transmissions and transaxles, and heating and air conditioning.
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