Red Rocks Community College’s Rocky Mountain Education Center Expands Technical Training Programs in the Middle East

Denver, CO, March 13, 2013 --(PR.com)-- Rocky Mountain Education Center (RMEC), the continuing education division of Red Rocks Community College, will join Ingress Partners, a private training organization incorporated in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), in opening an institute in KSA dedicated to workforce development. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is currently experiencing an economic transformation where diversifying the economy is the government's top priority. Mr. Kimanthi Thompson, former US Air Force and now Training Director of Ingress Partner’s Institute for Workforce Development in KSA stated that, “Through our partnership with Rocky Mountain Education Center (RMEC), we will be a major contributor towards educating the next generation of Saudi leadership, while at the same time helping to fulfill the government's objectives to increase workforce development within Saudi Arabia.” RMEC will provide curricula expertise and training of instructors that will be recruited to teach in KSA by Ingress. RMEC will focus initially on the development of occupational safety and health education for workers employed in the upstream onshore oil and gas industry.

RMEC has been successful in receiving grant funding through the Higher Education Development Funds of the United States Aid for International Development to expand renewable energy, occupational safety and health education, and water quality management curriculum in partnership with the Al-Balqa′ Applied University System in Jordan. “Expanding our curricula expertise in KSA through our partnership with Ingress is a logical next step to continue to develop good paying technical level jobs for the youth of the Middle East, while also addressing the demand for skilled workers by employers, many of whom are American, doing business in the Middle East,” says Joan Smith, Dean and Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Education Center.

RMEC as the OSHA Education Center serving the six state Rocky Mountain Region, that includes North Dakota the state that currently is vying for first place in oil and gas production in the US, has developed considerable expertise in the development and delivery of occupational safety and health education for workers employed in oil and gas exploration and production. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Directorate of Training and Education recently authorized the OSHA 5810, a thirty hour hazards recognition course for workers in the oil and gas upstream industry. The course was developed by RMEC in partnership with oil and gas employers.

Rocky Mountain Education Center offers intensive education to assist employers in compliance with local and federal requirements for worker training as well as supporting technicians in acquiring and maintaining job skills and preparing for certification testing required in the technical trades. Their programs include occupational safety and health in construction and electrical, general industry, environmental management, water and waste water management, energy efficiency, and renewable energy.

For more information Joan.smith@rrcc.edu or to learn more of the Rocky Mountain Education Center training services visit www.rmecosha.com.

For Ingress Partners kimanthi.thompson@ingresspartners.com