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Community College in partnership with DRS Imaging Services, LLC in Clarksville held a luncheon event celebrating seven DRS Imaging employees who received a career studies certificate from SVCC.

Within a two-year period, the DRS employees attended classes that covered office software applications, business, career exploration, team concepts and problem solving for the completion of a Career Studies Certificate in Office Basics.

“As an owner and Board member of DRS, I was excited to spearhead an incredible partnership between CapEQ (led by Tynesia Boyea-Robinson), the Southside Virginia Community College team and the South Central Workforce Development Board. Working together, we have provided more than 2,500 free college credit hours to DRS employees in Clarksville. We believe impactful initiatives like these not only serve to upskill our employees but are also significantly beneficial to companies by reducing employee churn. Thank you to our incredible partners on a job well done,” Nick Jean-Baptiste, Member of the Board of Directors of DRS Imaging Services, LLC, said.

Through this program, DRS Imaging paid for the tuition and books for each of the courses provided to its employees. When talking with the graduates, they explained that taking these courses were a springboard for a future career or a more advanced degree. Others stated that they were encouraged to finish what they had started years ago. For some of the graduates they received the encouragement to attend college for the first time.

“This type of program is what I love about workforce and apprenticeship courses,” Kristie Morris, apprenticeship specialist and Instructor at SVCC, said. “We at SVCC are able to offer our students (especially those working full time) courses they need to further educate themselves while fitting the courses into their busy schedules, one class at a time.”

“It was a pleasure working with DRS to upskill their workforce,” Kelly Arnold, former Southside Virginia Community College apprentice coordinator, said. “In the digital age it’s essential for employers to understand the value of upskilling and investing in their employees. While there is a small cost to training the workforce, the benefits to developing tech savvy workers creates intrinsic value for the employee and the company.”

Arnold added, “The partnership with Southside Virginia Community College allowed the DRS employees to learn new technologies and to earn career studies certificates. These collaborative efforts pay dividends in employee efficiency, well-being and accomplishments.”

DRS was founded in 1964 and is one of the oldest and largest privately owned document scanning service bureaus in the United States with more than 400 employees and 13 locations across the country.

For more information about other employee and apprenticeship programs offered at SVCC, please contact Kristie Morris, Apprenticeship Specialist at SVCC, kristie.morris@southside.edu.