Declaring it is home to one of the best views in “all of the Merrimack Valley” restaurateur and local businessman Sal Lupoli welcomed Northern Essex Community College President Lane Glenn as well as other NECC representatives to The Heights at Haverhill, a 10-story, mixed-use building development under construction at 160 Merrimack St., Haverhill on the banks of the Merrimack River.

In March, NECC will begin offering community education culinary courses on the second and third floors. In the Fall of 2020, a new, Culinary Arts Certificate Program will be taught there. A section of the third floor will also be home to the MassHire Merrimack Valley Career Center, which is managed by NECC.

Lupoli said it is nearly unprecedented how quickly the building was erected. It has been seven months since they “broke ground” and he expects the second and third floors, which will house NECC, to be “released” within months.

“This is such an opportunity for the school,” Lupoli said. “As an industry expert with more than 30 years of experience I’m telling you there will be a line of restaurants ready to hire these students.”

The two first floor restaurants and 10th floor sky bar could possibly hire the students, he said.

Aesthetically, he said, the floors, which will be fitted with state-of-the-art commercial kitchen equipment and appliances, will offer a “peaceful and tranquil environment” for students to work and train in, he said.

“This is without question one of the most unique projects I’ve worked on and I’ve worked on a lot of projects,” Lupoli said.

President Glenn said NECC is excited to start offering a variety of community education classes, taught by industry professionals, beginning in March of 2020. These classes will include Food & Wine Pairing, Crowd Pleasing Appetizers, Asian Fare, Introduction to beekeeping, Plant Based Cooking for Health and Vitality, Chocolate and CBD: Food that Heals; Cupcake Design; Fresh pasta, Sausage Making, Gluten & Celiac Sensitivity Cooking, and Couples Cooking Classes.

Denis Boucher, who is the coordinator of the new Culinary Arts Certificate Program, he intends to use as many local suppliers as possible and that the food is “always about seasons”. While root vegetables will be plentiful in the fall cooking, tomatoes will be used in many ways in the summer and later the students will can them.

Boucher has extensive experience as a chef, restaurant manager, and culinary educator. As director of Tompkins Cortland Community College’s Coltivare in Ithaca, NY, he oversaw a similar project, successfully developing a sustainable culinary lab, restaurant, and event space.

“This is a rigorous program,” Boucher said of the NECC Certificate Program. “We are preparing students to work in a commercial kitchen. Through our community education classes individuals may find their passion or even a career change.”

“We will graduate students who will be ready to work in many facets of the food industry,” Boucher said.

The remaining floors will open at a later date. Floors four through nine will hold 42, one- and two-bedroom luxury apartments with river views through floor to ceiling windows.

Here is a complete list and contact information on the community education courses.

Here is additional information, on the Culinary Arts Certificate program.

 

A total of 35 men and women graduated on Friday, November 8, 2019, from the Northern Essex Community College/Methuen Police Academy in the NECC Sport & Fitness Center on the Haverhill Campus, 100 Elliott St.

The student police officers represented 14 police departments from across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

John Scippa, director of the police academy, acknowledged the approaching Veterans Day, and opened the ceremony by asking past and current members of the armed forces to stand.

Deiby DeJesus, of the Lawrence Police Department, delivered the opening prayer, saying “Six months ago we were right in this very gymnasium trying to figure things out…this academy has equipped us with wisdom, technology, and know how.  We never quit. We never gave up. We never looked back.”

Scippa thanked the Municipal Police Training Committee (MPTC), which oversees the academy, and the five area police chiefs for continued support.

“These police chiefs devote a great deal of time to the academy…we put competent and confident police officers through the academy….because of this institution we have police officers who are highly prepared for their new careers,” Scippa said.

He acknowledged MPTC official Marylou Powers, who after 37 years of service to police training, is preparing for retirement.

“She has been a true friend in the short time we have worked together,” Scippa said.

NECC President Lane Glenn told the audience that the mission of the academy is to “provide high quality education and training.”

“This academy is something I’m most proud of,” he said. “It has produced over 400 police officers for dozens of police departments throughout Massachusetts. You are role models…being watched by a watchful public. I hope this has been a rich and rewarding experience for you.”

Chief Robert Ferullo, interim director of MPTC, told the student officers they are “entering a complicated profession at a complicated time.”

He said he carried a badge for close to 40 years. He told them “Nowhere does it say to go easy on you because you are a rookie.”

He told them to “pay attention…you have been trained by the best…your instincts will develop…take care of yourself…both your physical and mental well being.”

At one time, he said, he sought counseling and is not ashamed. “If you need help, seek out help”.

Methuen Mayor James Jajuga, told the graduates they have a big responsibility. “Your job is the best job in the world. You make a difference in people’s lives. When you run into someone who needs your help remember how important you are to them.”

He reminded them to “stay focused and never let your guard down”.

Class President Michael Stoico of the Lynn Police Department delivered the class address.

“You should all be proud of yourselves. Over the last 24 weeks we all got a little bit stronger and a little bit faster,” he said. “We have been pushed mentally and physically. For 168 days we were fortunate to be taught by the best faculty and trainers.”

Here is a list of graduates.

NECC/MPD Police Academy Background

All the graduates completed an intensive program that covered constitutional law, prevention and intervention, community policing, domestic violence, elder abuse, victims’ rights, and other topics. All training took place on the Haverhill Campus except for firearms training and emergency driving techniques, which were held, at off-campus locations.

Northern Essex manages the academy with guidance from an advisory board that includes police chiefs from Amesbury, Haverhill, Methuen, Lawrence, and North Andover. The NECC/Methuen Police Academy is authorized by the Municipal Police Training Committee.

The academy opened in February 2015 in response to a shortage of academies in the area. At the time, Haverhill Police Chief Alan DeNaro, said that the Merrimack Valley has needed a regional police academy for over 25 years. “By partnering with NECC, we will be able to move quickly and efficiently train our new recruits as they embark on their chosen profession.”

For more information, contact Michael McCarthy, NECC’s vice president of administration and finance at mmccarthy1@necc.mass.edu or John Scippa, academy director at jscippa@necc.mass.edu

 

Up to 90 local employees will have access to free supervisory skills training over the next two years, thanks to a $142,000 grant that Northern Essex Community College received from the Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund Direct Access Grant.

To be eligible for the free skills training, Massachusetts companies must have fewer than 100 employees and agree to pay employees while they are in training.

“This funding will help local employers develop supervisory/leadership skills of employees who have the potential to take on more responsibility and manage other employees,” said Kathy Ronaldson, program manager, NECC’s Corporate & Community Education.

The college will offer two courses: Effective Supervisory Skills, a 40-hour, 10-week course, and Advance Leadership Topics, a 30-hour course, 10-week course.

The college is currently recruiting students for the first session of Effective Supervisory Skills, which will run Thursdays, January 9 through March 12, 2020, in a choice of morning or afternoon sessions.  Effective Supervisory Skills will focus on topics such as understanding behavioral styles, planning and organizing, managing personnel issues, and creating a climate for motivation.

Anyone interested can attend an Information Session on Friday, November 15, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. or Friday, December 6, from 8 to 9:30 a.m.

Contact Ronaldson at 978-556-3066 or kronaldson@necc.mass.edu.

Effective Supervisory Skills will be offered six times, between January 9, 2020 and January 14, 2021, and Advanced Leadership Topics will be offered three times with the first session beginning April 8, 2020.

This is the second grant that Northern Essex has received to offer supervisory skills training.

In 2017, the Lawrence Partnership, a private-public sector consortium focused on economic development and improving the quality of life in Lawrence, conducted a survey to determine where there were local “skills gaps.” The survey was completed by 94 local employers with 50 or more employees, and many company leaders expressed concerns over lost productivity and competitiveness because of the lack of supervisory and management skills among their current workers.

Leadership was identified as the number one soft skills challenge while middle management was also shown to be an area of need, according to the survey.  As one company leader wrote, “We cannot grow our business without great staffing.”

The results of this survey led to the development of this program.

For more information, contact Ronaldson at 978 556-3066 or kronaldson@necc.mass.edu.

Nearly two years after it was closed for a $6.5 million renovation, Northern Essex Community College’s Dimitry Building at 45 Franklin St., Lawrence, was rededicated on Friday, November 1, with great fanfare.

NECC President Lane Glenn welcomed retired NECC President John Dimitry, for whom the building is named, his wife Audrey and daughter Jane, along with a full complement of legislators and local dignitaries.

In 1991, due to Dimitry’ s leadership, The Prudential Company made the extraordinary donation of 45 Franklin St., a 68,000 square foot building, to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for use as a Lawrence Campus. Five years later, in 1996, it was dedicated to Dr. Dimitry.

Glenn noted that Northern Essex now occupies a half dozen buildings in Lawrence that serves some 3,000 Lawrence students as well as others. “We would not be here today without the vision of Dr. Dimitry,” he said.

He credited Dimitry, who was the second president of NECC and served for 21 years, with spurring “dramatic growth and expanded academic offerings and creation of a Lawrence Campus.”

Dimitry made numerous trips to the Massachusetts State House to convince legislators of the need for a Lawrence Campus. Following the Lawrence riots of 1984 the state launched the Lawrence Education Employment Project (LEEP) which eventually grew into the Lawrence Campus. Today the campus includes the Dr. Ibrahim El-Hefni Allied Health & Technology Center, 420 Common St., the Louise Haffner Fournier Education Center, and the John R. Dimitry Building.

“We are tremendously proud of what is happening in this building,” Glenn said.

Among other improvements, there is now a room that serves as “home base” for the hundreds of Early College students enrolled at NECC.

Carol Gladstone, Commissioner of the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM) said, “This building is a great example of what we are trying to do across the Commonwealth.”

Massachusetts has many other buildings that were also built in the 1970s and 1980s and in need of renovations or undergoing renovations, she said.

“What a great space this is. It’s inviting. It’s simple but effective,” she said. “This will be a great building for many years to come for you.”

Senator Barry Finegold waxed nostalgically about NECC where his father Michael Finegold, taught for more than 30 years. As a child, he would hide in the back seat of his father’s car hoping his father would forget to drop him at school and he would instead go to NECC with him. Sometimes, he joked, it happened. He remembers fondly that the Dimitrys always made a point to speak with him when he was a young man attending events with his father.

“When we (legislators) think about why we do this job, it’s about creating opportunity…students here have an opportunity…” Finegold said.

He said that President Dimitry set a “high bar” and that President Glenn has met that bar.

“Everyone connected to Northern Essex knows you are helping to make the city better and the Merrimack Valley better,” Finegold said.

Rep. Frank Moran told President Dimitry, “Today is a great day. This building carries your legacy and your leadership. NECC is a shining example of what our community stands for.”

In addition, Moran thanked Glenn for his vision of making Lawrence a “college town.”

Lawrence mayor Dan Rivera said he remembers when the building was owned by Prudential Insurance as his sister worked there.

“To see it renewed as a great viable building where education happens is great,” he said.

Dr. Noemi Custodia-Lora, vice president Lawrence campus and community relations, said the building primarily services first generation Hispanics who are working more than one job. She said the renovated atrium with its seating and Coco Ray’s satellite restaurant, is helpful to both students and staff. While students use the space to socialize and study, staff are readily available to answer questions and direct the students to the resources they need.

A 114 x 14 foot mural created by the nonprofit community program Elevated Thought was unveiled.  The mural depicts imagery that translates into Northern Essex being the path to the future. One image, of a hand, shows the viewer/student that they have the power or control to create their future with the help of Northern Essex and its resources.

Following a ribbon cutting, tours were given of the building.