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 The Service Excellence
Initiative is a workforce training and development project focusing on premier customer
service skills. The initiative aligns its efforts and products with high school curriculum
development. It began in the Central Vermont region, was expanded in the Northeast
Kingdom, and is now taking on a new dimension in the Lamoille Valley region.
More detailed information about the Service Excellence Initiative is contained in
the Exemplary Programs section of the STW
website.
The second phase of the Service Excellence initiative in the Northeast Kingdom of
Vermont was intended to create a training consortium by developing a train-the-trainer
curriculum in customer service aligned with the standards, competencies and business
support mechanisms of the Northeast Kingdom Service Excellence initiative.
A last-minute grant at the sunset of School To Work funds allowed the region to move
forward with the curriculum piece of the plan. Pamela Sobodowski, a training consultant
working with the Newport Call Center, was available to work through the Northeast
Kingdom Chamber of Commerce to make this happen. The resulting product of this grant
funding is "Service Excellence: A Training Program for Vermont Businesses."
Since that time, the Northeast Kingdom Chamber, the Downtown St. Johnsbury Business
Association and the Northeast Kingdom Adult Education Council/South have been working
to roll out this curriculum. Members of these organizations have reviewed the curriculum.
The comment period ended, and one training session has been held.
Most of the participants in the initial training were agency trainers involved with
adult populations. It is the hope of the chamber to increase the business involvement
and move closer toward the original training consortium model.
The Northeast Kingdom Workforce Investment Board, the Center for Excellence at Lyndon
State College and the Northeast Kingdom Collaborative (REAP) are all aware of the
progress of the initiative and is expected to assist with the future rollout to businesses
and post-secondary institutions.
ABOUT THE
DOCUMENT
"Service
Excellence: A Training Program for Vermont Businesses" is available for on-line
viewing (underlined text). For a printed copy of the document, see the options listed
under "Other
Related Items":
FOR MORE
INFORMATION
For more information about the Service Excellence Initiative, visit the Exemplary
Programs
section of the STW website or contact one of the following individuals:
Suzanne Masland
Masland Consulting
714 Pero Hill Road
Thetford Center, VT 05075
Phone: (802) 785-4146
E-mail: smasland@together.net |
Patti Coultas
LBETA
P.O. Box 545
Morriville, VT 05661
Phone: (802) 888-1105
E-mail: lbeta@together.net |
Cher Smith
CJS Enterprises
P.O. Box 65
St. Johnsbury, VT 05819
Phone: (802) 592-3185
E-mail: cjsent@helicon.net |
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