Perey says Ron Corbin to find 8-10 industry leaders to assist with process

Ron Corbin

Cottonwood City Manager Ron Corbin has been asked by Yavapai Community College to coordinate an effort to convene a group of 8-10 industry leaders who can assist with giving input to potential Career and Technical Education (CTE) areas and programs.  Once the group is selected, the College will meet with them during the fall 2019 semester. 

Perey is quoted in the Verde Independent of August 1, 2019 as stating that he expects “by the end of the fall semester, we will have a solid plan and more specifics to the Skilled Trades Center.”

Source:  Verde Independent, August 1, 2019, p. 7.

Not yet ready to forecast the number of students who will be needed to fill the seats once the facility is constructed 

Dr. Perey addressing the Sedona City Council.

When they addressed the Sedona City Council on July 23, Verde Valley Campus Executive Dean Dr. James Perey and Yavapai Community College President Dr. Lisa Rhine emphasized that the new Career and Technical Education Center must be flexible. President Rhine said that “we want to make sure that we build the space so it is flexible so that if we need to change course; if we saturate a market, we can change course and offer different programming in career and technology so we can support whatever is emerging at that time. We are trying to be smarter and create and develop the facility so that we can be responsive to student needs.”

Perey emphasized that the College must make sure it meets current needs in building the new facility but is always looking into the future.  “What will the workforce potentially look like in ten years,” he asked.  The facility needs to be one that we can “ramp up and down fast depending on what that exact need is.”

Neither Dr. Rhine nor Executive Dean Perey were ready to estimate the number of students that would be needed for the new facility once it is completed and in operation.

Subset of Committee visits existing facilities in Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley on July 24, 2019

Yavapai Community College president Dr. Lisa Rhine has created a Verde Valley Planning Committee to help with the first phase of developing a Career and Technical Education facility on the east side of Yavapai County on the Verde Valley Campus.   A subset of the total Committee members visited various College facilities on the west side of the County Wednesday, July 24, 2019.

Among those Committee members touring west side facilities on Wednesday were:  Yavapai-Apache Nation Tribal Council Chairwoman Jane Russell-Winiecki, Cottonwood Mayor Tim Elinski, and Camp Verde Town Manager Russ Martin. The purpose of the tour was to give the Committee members a  sense of how the Community College delivers its programs on the west side of the County and  help better inform Committee discussions about an east side CTE facility.  The Community College has not yet furnished the public with a complete list of the membership of the Committee.

Here is what Dr. Rhine told the Sedona Council about the Planning Committee:

Dr. Lisa Rhine

“At a board meeting in the early spring I heard a message loud and clear from this side of the mountain. That was a need for a skills trade center in this region.

“I followed up that meeting with a convening of the elected officials on the east side of Yavapai County to announce that we would begin the planning phase of a skills training center on the Verde Valley campus. The participants at that meeting agreed to come together and identify community people that the college could begin to work with to plan that facility. The planning committee that we will convene will work with us to design the academic programming  that will take place in that facility and will guide our design process.

“Tomorrow, Yavapai College is hosting a subset of those participants, elected officials from the East side and they asked to tour West side facilities. Our Chino Valley facility, our Prescott Valley facility, and the Career and Technical Education Center at the Prescott airport. So that they have a sense of how we deliver our programs on the west side and that will help to inform the discussions when we discuss what we will do here on the east side.”

[Blog transcription.  The transcription may be checked for accuracy by viewing Dr. Rhine’s statement to the Sedona City County by clicking here.]

Tells Sedona City Council Building “L” renovation should be completed by 2020 and new CTE facility built by 2021; seeks strong open, honest ongoing relationship with Council

Yavapai Community College President Dr. Lisa Rhine appeared before the Sedona City Council Tuesday, July 23 to update the members on expectations about Building “L” and a future Career and Technical Education Center on the Verde Valley Campus.  She was accompanied by Verde Valley Campus Executive Dean Dr. James Perey and  Richard Hernandez, who is the Director of the Regional Economic Development Center (REDC).

Dr. Rhine said the renovation of Building “L” should be completed by the fall of 2020. She also said that the new Career and Technical Education Facility should be open by the fall of 2021.

She told the Council that her “intentions are pure and I have the best interests of our community at heart. I’d like to build the strongest working relationship possible with you. … I hope that we can continue to have an open and honest conversation and communication with one another in the future.”

The Council was very supportive.

You can view Dr. Rhine’s presentation by clicking here.  (Approximately 13 minutes in length.) You can view the entire city Council meeting including Dr. Rhine’s presentation by clicking here.