GILROY
– A fledgling retail workers’ training program is catching on
with employees and employers, too, who welcome a standard minimum
level of retail knowledge for new workers.
The eight-hour training sessions, offered each Friday, are
filling up through the end of the month in anticipation of
thousands of new jobs to be created by summer.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – A fledgling retail workers’ training program is catching on with employees and employers, too, who welcome a standard minimum level of retail knowledge for new workers.
The eight-hour training sessions, offered each Friday, are filling up through the end of the month in anticipation of thousands of new jobs to be created by summer.
The Gilroy Economic Development Corporation and Gavilan College Small Business Development Center are partnering to teach about 400 people the basics of working in retail: customer service, business etiquette and hands-on experience.
“We’ve got 800 jobs out there on (Highway) 152 already; we’ve got another 1,200 coming,” said Bill Lindsteadt, executive director of the Gilroy Economic Development Corporation.
The idea to offer free retail training surfaced nearly four years ago, Lindsteadt said, when retail and hospitality were recognized as two hotbed industries in Gilroy. After plans for two retail centers, Gilroy Crossing and the Pacheco Pass Center, at U.S. 101 and Highway 152 were developed and dozens of retailers agreed to come to the city, “it really became panic time,” Lindsteadt said.
Each 1,000 square feet of retail space equals roughly two jobs, Lindsteadt said, and the centers are adding more than 1 million square feet to Gilroy’s already strong retail base.
Both new and established retailers will benefit from the sessions offered now through June, Lindsteadt said. The Small Business Development Center recognized the need for establishing a strong worker base in Gilroy and signed on to develop a program.
“I think that every employee who comes into retail should go through this class,” said Sue Thurman, partner of Country Clutter, located in Gilroy Premium Outlets.
She dropped by the Small Business Development Center last Friday to observe the program’s second training session.
“I wanted to see what it was about because these are my people,” Thurman said. The breadth and depth of basic retail topics covered by the instructors clearly impressed her.
“Even before somebody wants to submit an application, I think I’ll ask them now, ‘Have you thought about taking this class?’ ” she said. “That will move them to the top of the pile.”
Thurman and her sister Peggy Ghysels have owned and operated Country Clutter, at 8555 San Ysidro Ave., for eight years, she said. Hearing about the training program, she thought it could be a valuable resource for future employees, and she may even pay new hires to attend the free training.
Mary Anne Ortega, currently unemployed, attended Friday’s session to learn new skills that would make her a competitive candidate as she submitted job applications “everywhere.”
A job in the retail industry appeals to Ortega, 57, because she thinks those employers are as likely to hire older people as younger ones.
She heard about the training through an article that ran in The Dispatch and Morgan Hill Times.
“I thought, ‘it’s free, this is great,’ ” Ortega said. As she interviewed with various companies, she told them she would be participating in training.
The day before her session, Ortega was hired to work part time at Wal-Mart. Even with two years of prior retail experience, Ortega was looking forward to updating her skills, particularly how to use new equipment. Training participants receive hands-on experience with cash registers, scanners and handling money.
It’s not just picking up basic retail skills that makes the class valuable for employees, Thurman said, it’s getting a general sense of what it might be like to actually work in a retail position.
“A lot of times, as an employer, we get people in who have no idea what retail is all about,” she said. “Retail is a tough job. It takes special skills and special people to work in that environment.”
Gaining basic retail skills is especially valuable in Gilroy, because local residents may have to compete with skilled workers from out of town.
“That’s going to give them a little bit of a head start,” said Linda Kerr, program specialist for the Small Business Development Center.
Participants in Friday’s program represented a cross-section of the population and included both young and old, male and female, and all different racial backgrounds. Kerr said many people who have signed up for classes are unemployed from a variety of industries.
The instructors actively engage students during the lecture-oriented half of the session. Slides with bulleted information make note-taking easy.
Participants are even given tips on resumes, cover letters and interview preparation. The instructors offer suggestions on dressing for a job interview and discuss possible questions.
“We want to get people prepared to work, hopefully locally in Gilroy, in a retail environment,” said Ingrid Thompson, director of workforce and economic development for Career Advancement Solutions in San Jose. “A lot of people can talk about customer service, but then you have to do it.”
The Small Business Development Center has recruited potential future retail workers through mailings and visits to unemployment services and other job training schools.
Given the early success of the program, Lindsteadt said he is considering developing a similar training for management-level positions.
The retail workers’ training program is free to participants thanks to a $40,000 grant from the Silicon Valley Workforce Investment Network, which helps businesses with training, outplacement and recruiting.
For more information, or to sign up for a training session, contact Debi Simmons at the Small Business Development Center at 847-0373.
