Prescott, Resa Corporation, NACOG join with Yavapai College in unique training effort; Faculty create 19 credit 14 week curriculum in two weeks; Tuition fully paid; 14 week internships pay $14 an hour; $25 per hour job awaits students on completion
Vice President Ron Liss and Prescott City Manger Michael Lamar explained to the College Governing Board at its January 16 meeting about how the City of Prescott, NACOG, the Community College and the Resa Corporation joined hands to create a series of courses and internships in less than a month that will be used to train potential Resa employees beginning January 29.
Resa is a small company located in Prescott. It has been around for about twenty years and is known for providing orthopedic insoles. Insoles prescribed by a podiatrist may cost from $400 to $500 a pair. However, Resa has developed and patented a process where the entire procedure for making insoles takes place at a kiosk. The machinery in the kiosk scans and captures every detail of a person’s feet in three dimensions. The insoles are designed specifically for one individual based on activity level, medical need and foot structure. Once the scanning takes place at a kiosk located in a store such as Costco, the custom insoles are then 3D-printed with a high-quality thermoplastic in about an hour. They are then ready to be picked up by the customer.
Resa has obtained a number of agreements to locate kiosks in several high volume, high profile stores. But the kiosks, which will be located in stores around the nation, must be maintained by well-trained technicians. Resa needed at least 25 almost immediately. Resa anticipates training a future workforce in Prescott of from 150 to 300 technicians in an 18 month time frame.
The City of Prescott needed a quick response when Resa contacted it indicating a need for the trained workforce. The City believed that if it couldn’t produce the labor force for the Company, it would relocate. The City, which was contacted in December, asked for help from the College and at some point the Northern Arizona Council of Governments (NACOG).
The College responded by creating a 19 credit hour program to be completed in 14 weeks specifically for the Resa technicians. Yavapai Community College CTEC faculty spent the two week holiday designing the curriculum.
Tuition is paid by NACOG. If NACOG does not fully cover the tuition, the Company has agreed to do so. In addition, the technician Internships that accompany the training program pay $14 an hour for from 16 to 20 hours a week. Students spend the first three days of the week in training and the second two days as paid interns. A $25 an hour job awaits at the Company for students who successfully complete the 14 week training program. Classes begin January 29.
The College will be leasing space at CTEC to the Company where students will be trained. About 75 persons applied for the 30 student training slots on January 14 at CTEC.
The first video below contains the explanation of the project by the Prescott City Manager. The second video below contains additional information about the College’s role in the project.