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The CCL, which is the first of its kind in Arizona and for community colleges, was created in direct response to industry need—to help local employees prepare for a career in the fast-growing insurance industry, while helping the industry fill current positions and projected employment shortfalls with qualified candidates.
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Rio Salado College collaborated with Glendale (GCC) and Mesa (MCC) Community Colleges, the Maricopa Community College District (MCCCD) and 35 insurance professionals from 20 different insurance companies to develop the program.
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“The collaboration between Rio, MCC, and GCC, and the insurance industry demonstrates our responsiveness to the needs of businesses and residents in our community,” said Rio Salado College President Chris Bustamante, who provided opening remarks during the summit. "This new certificate will help create a work-ready, knowledgeable workforce to meet the demands of an industry that currently has unfilled jobs for qualified residents.”
The summit included open remarks by and a panel discussion with MCCCD Associate Vice Chancellor Workforce Development Randy Kimmens; Arizona Insurance Council President, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of CopperPoint Mutual Insurance Company Rick Jones; The Institutes Director of Education Connor Harrison; and Arizona House Majority Whip and Representative for LD22 David Livingston. Otis White also served as a panelist and emcee at the event.
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Rick Jones of CopperPoint |
According to a recent survey by the Arizona Insurance Workforce Initiative, hiring needs will grow moderately to significantly over the next two years.
Several insurance companies, such as Scottsdale Insurance, Nautilus and CopperPoint are based in Arizona. Other insurance companies such as USAA, State Farm, MetLife, Liberty Mutual, Progressive, GEICO and Farm Bureau have large regional operations in Maricopa County. State Farm in particular is currently expanding its operations in Tempe and will be hiring many new candidates in the coming years.
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“As the property and casualty insurance industry continues to view Arizona as a growth opportunity for regional office placement and expansion, we need to continue our work with Arizona’s education community to assure that the ‘best and brightest’ students fully understand the value of, and are fully prepared for, an insurance career,’ said Boyd, who also contributed to the development of this certificate.
“The Insurance Certification program now being offered by Rio Salado College, Mesa College and Glendale College has taken a great deal of collaborative effort in development, but efforts that will reward the students, the industry, and Arizona for years to come,” said Boyd.”
Program requirements and additional details are currently available at www2.gccaz.edu/insurance-studies and www.riosalado.edu/insurance. Information about the educational debt, earnings, and completion rates of students who attend this program will be available at gccaz.edu/gainful-employment, mesacc.edu/programs/gainful-employment and www.riosalado.edu/insurance_ccl.
Major support for this program is made possible by Rio Salado in partnership with GCC, MCC, MCCCD, Arizona Insurance Council, Copper Point, State Farm, MetLife and Arizona Insurance Workforce. Funding is made possible in part by The Griffith Insurance Education Foundation and Surplus Line Association of Arizona Foundation.
The Maricopa Community Colleges are EEO/AA Institutions.