WIB Member Profile: Kevin Landry
President & CEO
New Horizons Computer Learning Centers of Southern California
With more than 300 centers in 70 countries, New Horizons San Diego is part of the world’s largest independent IT training company. Through an integrated and flexible learning approach that focuses on connecting knowledge with real-world situations, New Horizons San Diego delivers a range of technology and business skills training, from basic application and desktop productivity tools to complex and IT systems.
Kevin Landry is the President and CEO of New Horizons Computer Learning Centers of Southern California. He is also a member of the San Diego Workforce Partnership’s Workforce Investment Board. We asked Landry to share with us his interests in workforce-related issues.
SDWP: What motivated you to join the WIB?
Landry: As a small-business owner in San Diego, I see it as my responsibility to give back to my community. My position on the WIB gives me the opportunity to be exposed to the needs of the workforce in San Diego and make business decisions based on my experience. My business is uniquely positioned in that I deal with the business or enterprise community as well as the individual who is training to be re-positioned back into the workforce. I get to see what the needs of business are and shape our training offerings around the market needs in a real-time manner.
SDWP: What issue are you most passionate about as it relates to workforce development?
Landry: Employment. It is important that we recognize the needs of employers and match those needs through outreach and educating the business community along with our job seekers. To achieve success in improving the unemployment crisis we have in our country, it is important that we have an effective level of communication between the business community, job seekers and the resources that exist to facilitate the road to employment. This is especially significant in San Diego, where we have such a large number of veterans re-entering the workforce.
SDWP: Share a brief story about a person, event or project that you were involved with that underscores your passion for this issue.
Landry: As a little background, here at New Horizons Computer Learning Centers, we enroll students in programs that are developed in response to job demand from the market. And we only enroll the students who we believe will apply themselves to our programs and who are serious about earning a job following their training.
Before enrolling individuals into our training programs, we have an in-person interview process that assesses students’ employment history along with their current skills. We then choose a program that will add to the student’s experience to make them more employable in the future.
Businesses tell us the positions they have to fill, and we hand-pick our students for the specific positions and introduce them to the business looking to hire. We have a full-time placement specialist who uses our great database of contacts to assist our students in landing the right job.
One of my favorite success stories with our students involves a 58-year-old finish carpenter. “Bob” was in the construction business for 38 years, and the inconsistency of the job market coupled with the toll the physical work had taken on his body had forced him to search for a new career. Bob’s first plan was to be a “healthcare coder.” Bob met with our educational consultant, and she encouraged him to consider some of our other programs, as we didn’t feel this choice was ideal, given the intake assessment we had performed. Instead, we suggested that Bob use his expertise in the lumber business with a pursuit of an office job in a related industry. We trained him in the Microsoft Office Suite along with business skills courses, including Email Etiquette, Organization Skills and Project Management Fundamentals. Bob went from not knowing how to turn on a computer to becoming an expert in Excel, Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint. Home Depot was excited to hire Bob at the completion of his program to work in their office as an administrator because of his work history and his excellent computer skills. This is the perfect example of success beginning at enrolling the correct person in the correct program.
For more information about New Horizons Computer Learning Centers of Southern California, visit www.nhsocal.com.