 Feature
Story
Business
Skills Stay Sharp With Cutting-Edge Corporate Training
By Gretchen Cain
“Our business model is to
create business solutions that reflect our business
community needs.” -Anita George
“Companies must have
efficient and effective methods to understand today's
and tomorrow's business solutions, and then proactively
implement these into their organizations.” -Tina
O’Daniels.
 Just as seismologists track
the tremors of an earthquake, director Tina O’Daniels
and her staff at
St. Petersburg College’s Corporate
Training headquarters keep careful watch for vibrations
that signal change in the workforce. At the EpiCenter,
an impressive high-tech facility in Largo, where the
program has been housed since 2005, curriculum is
examined continually to ensure it is meeting the needs
of the business community.
Teaching to the job market
is a challenge, because no one really knows what the
most lucrative careers will be in the future. It is an
advantage to those enrolled in training classes that
instructors are business people themselves who have an
understanding of industry-driven trends and cycles.
Graduates of the “school of hard knocks” themselves,
they are well-qualified to give students the much-needed
career edge by updating their skills in technology, and
qualifying them for licensing and further professional
development. With the goal of steering area employees
toward career advancement, O’Daniels collects data from
small companies and large corporations alike regarding
the qualifications managers are looking for in an
employee. She listens carefully to their predictions for
future growth in job areas and also layoffs.
O’Daniels, the “trainers’ trainer,” has a Master’s in
Business Administration degree and is a doctoral student
with the University of Florida with a concentration in
Higher Education Administration. She is knowledgeable in
the techniques used to deflect problems in workplace
environments and instill cohesiveness among managers and
employees. O’Daniels works with employers throughout
Tampa Bay to find lasting solutions, drawing on her 20
years of experience, while soliciting input from staff,
and on occasion, fellow members of professional
affiliations, such as the American Society for Training
and Development (ASTD) and Society for Human Resources
Management (SHRM). The Collaborative Labs, a series of
innovatively designed rooms at the EpiCenter, are at her
disposal to facilitate discussion and decision-making.
 “Companies must have efficient and effective methods to
understand today's and tomorrow's business solutions,
and then proactively implement these into their
organizations,” said O’Daniels. “Do you build your own
infrastructure or create a partnership? And if you
partner, what will be the criterion used for selection?”
Trust, value, long-term relationships, global, local,
capable, and a proven track-record come to mind. St.
Petersburg College Corporate Training has all of this
and more,” she said.
Anita George, in charge of Program Development and
Marketing, assists with delivering innovative,
customized and client-specific business solutions, which
includes the compilation of statistics in order to track
the preferences of students. “Our business model is to
create business solutions that reflect our business
community needs,” said George, who has a Bachelor’s
degree in Business Management from Florida State
University, and, as a former employee of AT&T and
Paradyne, is a 20 year-veteran of corporate America.
One of the first “needs” the Corporate Training program
fulfills is convenience. Since students are working
people, course offerings are scheduled for evening hours
and on weekends. Taught at the training center, as well
as company locations, courses are accessible.
Additionally, programs are innovative since students
have the option to take most courses online (anytime,
anywhere, using any delivery system) or in the classroom
setting. The largest group of students enrolled is baby
boomers, with Generation X (anyone born from 1961 to
1981) following closely on their heels. Being more
comfortable with the use of technology overall, the Gen
X group typically leads the enrollments in Online
courses, whereas Baby Boomers are still more traditional
classroom learners.
Every student is encouraged to embrace technology, since
the majority of today’s jobs require some knowledge of
computers and accessories. Each classroom is equipped
with top-of-the line computers and resources. The
students/instructor ratio is kept low, with the average
class size being 10 to 20 students.
Computer Microsoft classes, especially Excel, fill up
quickly. George predicts that with Office 2007 there
will be a surge in enrollment to keep up with the new
features. Fiber Optics, Business Continuity, Supervisor
certificate program and Lean/Six Sigma are some of the
Corporate Training program’s newer offerings that are
hot right now.
 Courses that allow students to become licensed
professionals are very consistent in response to the
need for business people to keep current with their
licenses. The market place tends to impact new licensing
as well. For example, there was a wave of enrollment in
Real Estate and Mortgage Broker pre-licensing and
certification five years ago, when residential and
commercial transactions were high. The decline of
transactions over the past few years has shifted the
focus to continuing education classes. Certification in
construction-related professions has gone through much
the same cycle.
According to George, the Corporate Training program’s
greatest success is its base of returning customers. “We
have never lost a corporate client and most of our
business is referral business,” she said. George is
optimistic about the future because of a very talented
and involved advisory board, which represents diverse
segments of the business community. They are charged
with reviewing and guiding the program as it moves
forward. Returning customers include government
entities, such as Pinellas County Government, City of
Clearwater, City of St. Petersburg and PSTA; and
companies such as Honeywell, Linvatec, Nielson Media,
Transitional Optical, CSDA (Concrete Sawing and
Drilling), Bright House, St. Petersburg Times Holding,
Evatone, Raytheon and Dynamet.
George said the Corporate Training program has come a
long way from its inception in 1985, when a handful of
computer courses were offered on weekends. Response from
the business community remains positive. The principal
of supply and demand for life-changing information,
delivered effectively, has become a self-fulfilling
prophecy.
For more information on St. Petersburg College’s
Corporate Training Program & Business Solutions, call
(727)341-4445 or
www.spcollege.edu/ct
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