Pembroke campus launching business fundamentals program

A new business fundamentals program is coming to Algonquin College in Pembroke. The eight-month certificate program will begin in September 2023 and students will be workforce ready by April 2024.

Program coordinator Kim Drake says the program is ideal for anyone who is out of work or is looking to retrain for a different career. Drake hopes to have 30 students enrolled.

“Students will learn the principles of accounting, marketing, business law and human resources management,” said Drake. “The ideal candidates are high school graduates who are unsure of what they may want to study, students wishing to try business courses to see if it is the right fit, people in need of retraining or wishing to change vocations, people wanting to run a business and would like the fundamentals.”

Jamie Bramburger, manager of community and student affairs at the Pembroke campus, added, “We believe the program is a very good fit for our local labour market as we have many small businesses and a good mix of private and public employers who need graduates with fundamental business skills.”

The courses will be administered in-person on campus or online, giving students who have transportation issues, or barriers to getting into the campus a chance to enroll.

“This program as well as the business diploma are being delivered in a multimodal setting at the Pembroke campus. This allows students who do not have easy access to a campus to be able to attend asynchronous, real-life classes either in-person or in Zoom. This added flexibility is very advantageous for students and we now have students who join us from a great distance as well as local students who can attend campus regularly,” said Drake.

“Multi-modal classrooms are equipped with large video monitors, speakers and microphones that allow students to join classes in person or virtually at the same time. Students can choose on a daily basis how they access their courses giving them plenty of flexibility to engage with their faculty and classmates,” explains Bramburger.

The program is eligible for funding through Better Jobs Ontario.

“I anticipate the local students will continue to live and work in our area, helping to fill labour market gaps in our economy,” said Bramburger.

“We also partner with local businesses to allow the students to get some applied experiences within the courses. The business program has been a long-standing program at the Pembroke campus and well-integrated within our business community,” added Drake.

More details about the program and applications for the Business Fundamentals Certificate are available online here.