Northern Essex Community College’s chamber ensemble, under the direction of Christina Dietrich and Ingrid Marstaller, assistant director, will present a holiday concert Saturday, December 10, at 7 p.m. in the Hartleb Technology Center on the Haverhill campus, 100 Elliot St.

This event is free and open to the public.

The performance will feature the works of Bach, Mozart, Pachelbel, and Cohen. Northern Essex offers an Associate in Arts Degree: Music Option and a certificate in music technology.

For further information contact Christina Dietrich at cdietrich@necc.mass.edu.

The Northern Essex Community College Chorus will present its winter choral concert on Sunday, Dec. 4, at 2 p.m. in Room 103 in the David Hartleb Technology Center on the Haverhill campus, 100 Elliott St.

A selection of seasonal music will be performed by the NECC Chorus.

This event is open to the public. Tickets are $5. They can be purchased at the door.

For more information contact Alisa Bucchiere at abucchiere@necc.mass.edu

The Winter Choral Concert is part of the “Performing Arts Series” presented by the Department of Performing Arts at Northern Essex Community College.

For additional information or for sign language requests contact Alisa Bucchiere at abucchiere@necc.mass.edu or call 978-556-3779.

Cesiah Albarran of Lawrence came to this country in 2013 from Puerto Rico with a recently earned bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Puerto Rico and limited English skills.  With the help of family members, she quickly landed a job with Bradford & Bigelow (B&B), a $31M specialty printing company with 140 employees in Newburyport, working as a helper in manufacturing.

Today, thanks in part to a workplace English program provided by Northern Essex Community College and funded by a state grant, Albarran has been promoted to account manager at Bradford & Bigelow, where she is communicating regularly with customers, using her newly honed English skills.

“I spoke a little bit of English when I came here but it was English learned from books.  Participating in this program gave me the confidence to communicate in English,” said a brightly smiling Albarran.

On Monday, November 21, Albarran and the other 18 Bradford & Bigelow employers who completed the year-long, 220-hour English language program were recognized at a graduation ceremony held at the Newburyport headquarters.

The Workplace English program that Albarran benefited from was paid for by a $246,762 Workforce Training Fund grant from the state’s Commonwealth Corporation which Bradford & Bigelow received in late 2015.  In addition to funding Workplace English for employees, the grant also covered sales training, effective supervisory management skills, Microsoft Office Suite 2013 and technical training.  It was the largest grant in Massachusetts’ state history given to a printing company, according to Company President John D. Galligan, who spoke at the ceremony.

“As one of the first ISO 9001: 2015 and G-7 certified suppliers in North America, continuous training and improvement is part of our DNA,” said Galligan, who adds that his company has invested $10M over the past three years in the most advanced equipment available in their markets.

Bradford & Bigelow’s clients are national and international in scope and the company competes successfully against some of the industry giants. “Our goal is always same: we want to be a best in class supplier not the biggest.”

Another key to B&B’s success is the low turnover, says Galligan.   “We measure employee tenure in terms of decades not years.”

The low turnover can be attributed to the benefits that the company provides, says Tara Howley, HR manager.    Those benefits include continuous training, excellent wages benefits with health and dental insurance, 401K contributions and plenty of overtime.”

The company also is a family affair attracting many employees who are related.  The Workplace English class, for example, included two married couples, an aunt and niece, and sisters and brothers.

At the ceremony, Rick Dunn, B&B’s executive vice president, credited the team at Northern Essex.  “They have been terrific partners in helping us to execute our strategy.”

Also speaking at the graduation ceremony were Newburyport Mayor Donna Holaday and George Moriarty, NECC’s executive director of corporate and community education who recognized the 60 plus jobs B&B has created over the past few years.  NECC Workplace English teacher Patrick Liu presented certificates to each of the graduates and Dennis Marcello attended representing Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives.

For more information about Workplace English and other corporate training programs offered by NECC, contact Moriarty at gmoriarty@necc.mass.edu or 978 659-1224

 

 

Graduates included:

Danvers, MA

Guery Roa

Lawrence, MA

Cesiah Albarran
Milagros Batista
Rafael Cruz
Yennifer Hidalgo
Virgen Nunez
Jose Reyes
Andy Rodriguez
Gilbert Rodriguez
Jandy Rodriguez
Maximo Rodriguez
Jovanny Santana

Methuen, MA

Jhonathan Medrano

North Andover, MA

Fatima Rodriguez

Revere, MA

Anabel Romero
Roxbury, MA
Felix Diaz

Salem, MA

Gisela Olivero
Dinh Phu
Ricardo Santa

NECC’s Center for Corporate & Community Education located at NECC Riverwalk, 360 Merrimack St., Lawrence, Bldg 9, offers noncredit business, professional, career, and personal development courses as well as professional certificates and computer training for individuals and companies looking for cutting-edge skills, by providing the training that is most needed in today’s workforce. For more information email noncredit@necc.mass.edu or call 978-659-1200 or visit us online at www.necc.mass.edu/noncredit.

 

 

The Northern Essex Community College Jazz Rock Ensemble, under the direction of NECC music professor Michael Lecuyer, will present its winter concert on Thursday, December 8, 6:30 p.m. in the Hartleb Technology Center on the Haverhill campus, 100 Elliott St.

This event is free and open to the public.

The ensemble will perform jazz classics covering all genres of jazz, including Be Bop, ballads, modal, Latin, and swing by jazz composers such as Miles Davis, Antonio Jobim, Dave Brubeck, Rodgers & Hart, as well as student composed original pieces.

The NECC Music Club will sell refreshments at the conclusion of the event.

Northern Essex offers an associate degree in General Studies: Music and a certificate in Music Technology.

For additional information contact Lecuyer at mlecuyer@necc.mass.edu

Three Northern Essex Community College employees, Kathy Ronaldson of York, Maine; Lawrence Rickabaugh and Nancy Carroll both of Amesbury were recently awarded the Employee Recognition Award for the fourth quarter of 2016.

The Employee Recognition Award recognizes the many and varied contributions of the college’s nearly 700 employees. Employees are selected each quarter based on recommendations from supervisors and co-workers. Recipients receive a $150 certificate to the restaurant or mall of his or her choice.

Ronaldson is a 16-year employee of Northern Essex. She is currently assistant director of NECC’s Center for Corporate and Community Education.

George Moriarty, director of the Center for Corporate and Community Education praised Ronaldson as a “respected professional”.

“Throughout her tenure, Kathy has demonstrated a deep commitment to the college, to her colleagues, and, most especially, to the people served by NECC,” he wrote n his nomination. “But it is her exemplary job performance over the past two years that has earned Kathy this well-deserved nomination… In just the two short years that Kathy has been working on corporate training, she has developed training programs for 22 companies; trained 510 workers; and generated over $500,000 in training contracts.”

She holds an associate degree from NECC, a Bachelor of Science in Applied Management from Lesley University, and a Master of Science in Human Resource Counseling from Northeastern University. She has a professional certification from the Society of Human Resource Management.

Rickabaugh, a retired Lucent engineer, has worked at Northern Essex for eight years as a systems analyst.

He was nominated by Ricardo “Danny” Rivera, assistant director of information technology,  who wrote in his nomination, “His technical knowledge matches his dedication to the NECC community, making him a reliable resource as a service desk technician. His “can do” attitude is not only appreciated by his coworkers and me, but by all the people he helps.” His nomination was supported by Kathleen (KB) Borruso, NECC database administrator, who wrote “Each year Larry’s attention to ensuring a positive experience for all students at the college and their technical needs has been a great asset to the college. Larry approaches questions and issues with care, patience, and positivity.”

He holds an Associate of Science in Computer Information Sciences: Applications and Operations from Northern Essex as well as certificates in computer applications, computer networking, web page design & development, and information technology fluency.

Carroll has worked at Northern Essex for 10 years as a clerk overseeing the GED, now HiSET exam.

She was nominated by Donna Felisberto, coordinator of student assessment, credit for life learning & HSE chief examiner, who lauded her for being “student centered”.

“(Nancy)…is an amazing advocate towards our diverse students, faculty and staff especially when it comes to her work as a High School Equivalency (HSE) Test Examiner…Nancy consistently has high standards and her performance is a reflection of that…she ensures the students’ needs are met and processes are efficient.  Nancy also has connections to outside agencies to assist and advocate for a diverse population of students coming to NECC for their HSE equivalency testing. Many students come from difficult life situations and Nancy is very much aware of this.  She is very sensitive and shows a great deal of empathy to the students she works with.   Nancy is full of enthusiasm and she is always cooperative, and courteous to everyone she works with.  Nancy has a pleasant welcoming style, a positive attitude and a friendly nature that puts students at ease.”

She holds an Associate of Science Degree in Marketing from Massachusetts Bay Community College.