About Us


As a consortium, UpSkill California shares extensive resources and expertise—including the world’s largest body of workplace-specific curriculum—to deliver virtually any training solution required by business.

Additionally, our colleges are adept at helping employers access and administer state funding that offsets the cost of training programs. We deliver our services via college-based Workforce Training Centers that are strategically positioned throughout the state. Collectively, we have many decades of experience serving industries including aerospace, agriculture/food processing, bio and life science, healthcare, logistics, technology, transportation, and a wide variety of industrial manufacturers.

Workforce Training Centers

The UpSkill California consortium is composed of more than 30 California Community Colleges that deliver customized employee training and workplace education via Workforce Training & Development Centers (WTDC). The Centers receive support from the Employment Training Panel (ETP)—a state agency that provides funding to employers to assist in upgrading the skills of their workers through training. ETP funding helps off-set the costs of job skills training necessary to maintain high-performance workplaces.

To help businesses manage and administer the complexities of ETP contracts, several of our college members are designated as Multiple Employment Contract (MEC) holders. Those colleges also assist other consortium members in procuring ETP contracts for their clients, thus expanding the geographic area served by ETP. Colleges that are MECs are identified in the list below. Non-designated colleges subcontract with MEC colleges to procure ETP funding for their clients.

Eldon Davidson, director for the Center of Customized Education at El Camino College and founding member of the Upskill California consortium states, “Our member colleges play an important role in helping companies across multiple industries secure state funding (ETP) that offsets the cost of employee training. We know which industries and types of training qualify for funding. Our MEC colleges are well versed in the entire ETP administrative process, including the initial application, contracts, program monitoring, and reimbursement of funds. Because of those capabilities, all our member colleges are able to handle for their clients the extensive administrative work that comes with ETP contracts.”

If you are considering applying for ETP funding, please contact the MEC-designated college in your area.

Workforce Training & Development Centers are based at our consortium members’ colleges.

Antelope Valley College, Lancaster, California
Butte College (MEC), Oroville, California
Chaffey College (MEC), Rancho Cucamonga, California
Cerritos College, Norwalk, California.
City College of San Francisco, San Francisco, California
College of The Canyons (MEC), Santa Clarita, California
College of the Sequoias (MEC), Visalia, California
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, California
El Camino College (MEC), Torrance, California
Kern Community College District (MEC), Bakersfield, California
Long Beach City College, Long Beach, California
Modesto Junior College, Modesto, California
Mt. San Antonio Community College (MEC), Walnut, California
Napa Valley College, Napa, California

Rancho Santiago Community College, Santa Ana, California
Rio Hondo College, Whittier, California
Riverside College (MEC), Riverside, California
Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, California
San Bernardino Community College District (MEC), San Bernardino, California
San Diego Community College District, San Diego, California
San Mateo Community College District, San Mateo, California
San Joaquin Delta College, Stockton, California
San Jose Evergreen College, San Jose, California
Santa Monica College (MEC), Santa Monica, California
Shasta College, Redding, California
Sierra College, Rocklin, California
Ventura College, Ventura, California
Victor Valley Community College District, Victorville, California

Employer Outreach & Employee Training

Upskill California’s mission is perfectly aligned with the mission of the entire California Community College system; our charter is to be a driver of regional economic and workforce development. That role has a significant impact on the way our members operate, how they design curriculum for employee training and professional development programs, how they prepare students and incumbent workers for success, and how they deliver value to the community and regional employers.

Sandra Sisco, Director, Economic Development & Chaffey College INTECH Center, states,
“The extensive and long-term partnerships our members have developed with regional employers allow them to respond quickly to the urgent training and workplace educational needs of industry. This agility combined with our vast shared resources allows our colleges to develop in-demand customized training programs within weeks.”

Our members have many decades of experience serving industries including:
training

  • Aerospace
  • Agriculture/food processing
  • Bio and life science
  • Healthcare
  • Industrial manufacturing
  • Logistics
  • Technology
  • Transportation

Because of the vast resources and highly experienced subject matter experts available within the community college system, the UpSkill California consortium of colleges can deliver training programs to any level of staff, from entry level to the “C” Suite. Programs range from advanced manufacturing, logistics, leadership, computer applications, to customer service training. By working in partnership with regional community colleges, member colleges can gather and manage the resources to develop customized curriculum and training on almost any subject.

A sample of the diverse training programs delivered by our member colleges include:

  • APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP)
  • Business Skills – Customer Service Skills
  • Business Skills – Sales Training
  • Cyber Security for DOD Contractors
  • Digital Literacy & Information Security
  • Food Safety Training for Food Processers and Agriculture
  • Healthcare
  • Industrial Electrical
  • Industrial Mechanical
  • Leadership – Change Management
  • Manufacturing Skills – CNC Programming
  • Performance Improvement – Lean Six Sigma
  • Performance Improvement – Strategic Planning and Implementation
  • Welding