Mar 19, 2024  
2012-2013 Academic Catalog 
    
2012-2013 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Business and Community Services



Services for Business

One of Southwest’s highest priorities is helping local area businesses meet their commercial training needs. The College works closely with various Chambers of Commerce, the Local Workforce Investment Board, Tennessee Industrial Training Service, and the Memphis/Shelby and Fayette counties economic and development teams that recruit prospective companies to the region. Training is coordinated and closely aligned with these organizations and their strategic planning and recruitment efforts. Each training course or program is practical, up-to-date, customized to the specific customer training needs, and is offered at competitive prices, on-site or at a choice of locations, and delivered utilizing flexible schedules that are the customer’s choice.

Starting and Sustaining A Small Business

https://www.tsbdc.org/center.aspx?center=47090&subloc=0
(901) 333-5085

Southwest, in cooperation with the U.S. Small Business Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, State of Tennessee, and the City of Memphis, hosts and supports in Shelby and Fayette counties, the Tennessee Small Business Development Center (TSBDC). The TSBDC provides in-depth, high-quality assistance to promote growth, expansion, innovation, increased production and improved management for businesses with sales of five million ($5,000,000) dollars or less, and no more, than 500 employees.

The TSBDC provides business counseling and advice by appointment for problem-solving in organizational marketing, finance, technical problems and other areas of business. The TSBDC helps business start-ups with assistance with business plans; accounting and records; personnel; inventory control; selling to government entities, marketing, and marketing research. Specific assistance is available to assist businesses in locating financing, solving technical problems and technology transfer issues as well as to foster growth, innovation and increased productivity.

Supporting Business and Workforce Development

Corporate Training and Continuing Education

www.southwest.tn.edu/ce/
(901) 333-4207

To improve profitability and productivity, and in order to adapt to the ever-changing market place, businesses need a way for their employees to enhance their knowledge and skills. The Corporate Training and Continuing Education Department at Southwest provides customized training and services in a wide variety of training areas and at times and locations to meet your company’s needs. In addition to customized training, the Corporate Training and Continuing Education Department also offers a wide variety of regularly scheduled workforce and personal development classes.

Here are a few of the training categories available:

  • ACT and GED Exam Preparation
  • Building, Manufacturing, and Industrial
  • Business and Commerce
  • Computers
  • Green/Renewable Energy
  • Health and Medical
  • Languages
  • Leadership, Management and Supervision
  • Occupational Safety and Environmental Health
  • Quality, Process Improvement and Productivity

Business Services

www.southwest.tn.edu/ce/training-assesmt.htm
(901) 333-6456

Services include instructional support that allows employers to design customized training programs to address employee skill gaps; and research and reporting that allow employers to review and analyze data to identify trends and make fact-based decisions. Also available are job profiling, certified assessments, research/reporting, and KeyTrain System.

Mid-South Quality-Productivity Center (MSQPC)

www.msqpc.com
(901) 543-3530

The Mid-South Quality-Productivity Center (MSQPC) which is located at the Memphis Regional Chamber, 22 North Front Street in downtown Memphis, is a joint program of the College and the Memphis Regional Chamber. MSQPC is dedicated to providing Mid-South area businesses and organizations with the finest in quality and productivity education, training and materials. Additionally, the MSQPC provides a variety of services to businesses and organizations at the regional, national and international levels. MSQPC also serves as a clearinghouse for a vast array of individual quality productivity programs, and it frequently delivers custom tailored programs to businesses and organizations.

These programs include:

  • Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award assessments and assessment training
  • Process Activated Training System® (PATS)
  • Implementation of process documentation and cycle time reduction systems, which uses existing employees, known as Subject Matter Experts (SME’s), to identify and teach “Best Practices” throughout the organization
  • “Best Practice Tours” bench-marking trips to organizations such as Saturn Corporation and Federal Express Corporation
  • ISO 9000, ISO 14000, 13485, T516949 workshops, in-house consultation, and training
  • Professional consulting that includes, but is not limited to, quality awareness sessions, steering committee training and quality function deployment
  • Quality award training and application writing for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence Award
  • Quality improvement project team training, a quick and easy way for organizations to get their employees involved in Performance Excellence
  • On-site credit courses through Southwest that offer hands-on training on quality-productivity “tools” necessary to support Total Quality Management
  • Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and Black Belt Certification
  • Franklin Covey and Executive Education Training

Services for Targeted Groups

Southwest is unique because it has a commitment to providing a comprehensive array of services and programs to all segments of the community.

Certified Professional Secretary (CPS) Program

Upon successful completion of the CPS examination, the student will be eligible for 19 hours of college credit toward the Office Technology A.A.S. degree, if he/she has completed at least nine credit hours at Southwest and is currently enrolled in a program of study leading to a degree. A record of the CPS examination scores, award of the CPS certificate, and a written request for award of credit must be provided to the Office of Admissions, Records and Recruitment. The courses for which credit will be awarded are:

Course Cr.
ACCT 1010 Principles of Accounting I  3
OFAD 1110 Keyboarding I  3
OFAD 1120 Keyboarding II  3
OFAD 1210 Microsoft Word I  4
OFAD 1140 Records Management  3
OFAD 2610 Administrative Office Management  3
Total 19

GEAR-UP – Middle and High School Students

(901) 333-5350

GEAR-UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is a five-year federal grant program. The overall purpose of the GEAR-UP Program is twofold. First, GEAR-UP is fully committed to helping students in designated middle and high schools in the Memphis City Schools district enroll and successfully complete high-level rigorous courses, such as Algebra I, in preparation for postsecondary education. Secondly, Southwest also provides each GEAR-UP student with access to summer enrichment camps and a College Coach Mentor to support and guide them through their middle and high school years. GEAR-UP also provides a number of resources to parents of GEAR-UP students, such as admissions and financial aid informational workshops, to assist parents to better prepare their child for college.

Upward Bound – College Prep for Eligible High School Students

www.southwest.tn.edu/upward/
(901) 333-5117

Upward Bound is a pre-college educational program funded by the U.S. Department of Education which assists eligible students in their efforts to successfully complete high school and obtain a college education. Upward Bound provides high school students with comprehensive educational services specifically designed to enhance learning and to heighten self-confidence.

Eligible participants must be enrolled in ninth or tenth grade and attend one of the following high schools:

  • Frayser
  • Hamilton
  • Manassas
  • Northside