<< Back 11/27/02 SCC assists local company with personalized training SMN When Whitley Products Inc. of Franklin made the cost-saving decision to maintain and service their air-conditioning and refrigeration units internally; they turned to Southwestern Community College’s Business Assistance and Developmental Center for help. Keith Corbeil, Southwestern’s Training Coordinator, met with Whitley Products’ officials to assess their specific needs, then armed with information, set forth to create a training plan. “We have worked with Whitley in the past,” said Corbeil. “They are very dedicated to educating and training their employees.” With the help of Southwestern instructor, Bob Brost, a 40-year veteran of the air-conditioning and refrigeration business, a program was designed to offer Whitley’s employees a vast and in-depth training session. “Bob did a great job and he has a vast knowledge of air-conditioning,” said Mark Tennant, a Whitley maintenance employee. “We got to use the new equipment the company purchased during the training for recovery of freon, pressure testing the system and learning to use the new vacuum gauges. There were lots of different systems to gain diagnostics practice and repair [practice].” In addition to the units furnished by the college, students were able to work on a wide variety of systems thanks to Joel Ostroff and his staff at the Macon County Landfill. They saved refrigeration and air-conditioning units for the class that were sent to the landfill for disposal. Upon successful completion of the course, students were prepared to take the State Board of Refrigeration Examiners for Type 1 or Type 2 licenses or Universal License for Refrigeration. SCC will be offering another air-conditioning course this spring. For more information, write Corbeil at kcorbeil@southwest.cc.nc.us or call him at 828.349.1278.