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When Dr. Pat McAtee became president of Cowley in July 1987, the college had no partnership withGeneral Electric's plant at Strother Field, and was recording only 6,000 contact hours of training with businessand industry as a whole.But as higher education has evolved from the traditional delivery of math, science, and computer courses,Cowley has become anything but your traditional community college. During the past decade, Cowleyhas increased the number of business and industry contact hours to nearly 200,000 annually. McAtee cannotoveremphasize the important role Cowley plays in developing a quality workforce."We've been committed to business and industry ever since I came in '87," McAtee said. "Over the last10 years our relationship has grown to the point where we can be pretty responsive to just about any needthey have. They know we can respond to it and get it done."The college has worked in some capacity with dozens of businesses and industries in Cowley County andthe surrounding service area. Through the years, Cowley has developed or offered programs for GillilandPrinting, Inc., GE, Rubbermaid, Gordon-Piatt Energy Group, the city of Arkansas City, local school districts,day care centers, nursing homes, special education cooperatives, KSQ Blowmolding, Social RehabilitationServices, Southwestern Bell Telephone, Montgomery Elevator, Boeing, Cessna, Winfield State Hospital andTraining Center, and the business and industry division of banks.Two large projects which began in early 1996 were under way during the 1996-97 academic year withGE's Engine Aircraft Maintenance Center and with Rubbermaid in Winfield. Gene Cole, Cowley's directorof business and industry, said it was a case of responding to the needs of business and industry."GE needed to get a process to establish some pre-employment testing and training," Cole said. "We wentto Saturn, Detroit Diesel, and GE's plant in Kentucky to look at those types of programs."Then came another trip to the Dallas County Community College district in Texas to benchmark with thatschool's program already in place.What developed is a job profiling and pre-employment testing program for both GE and Rubbermaid.Cowley tests potential employees of both industries, saving time and money, and in the process improvingthe chances of hiring more qualified employees.West Summers, manager of human resources at Rubbermaid, said Cowley has been cooperative and quickto respond to Rubbermaid's needs."At this point it's been a very productive relationship for Rubbermaid and for Cowley County CommunityCollege," Summers said. "And we're looking at expanding the relationship. We look to begin one programlater this month and there are a couple of others on the drawing board."Summers said Cowley's assistance with Rubbermaid's hiring process is only a couple of months old. Buthe said the administrative assistance Cowley provides "is a real service and cost-effective for us to do it thatway.""Initial indications are good," Summers said of the program. "I think we need to go at least a quarterbefore we begin to see any concrete results."Cole said GE's primary need has been licensed powerplant mechanics. The concept of Cowley's preemploymentprogram was to develop a pool of potential employees, pre-trained, and available as GE neededthem. The result was the development of a 135-hour pre-employment training program for GE and potentialemployees.Ed Jolley, GE training specialist, said his company's partnership with Cowley is working well."I think it's a good relationship," he said. "We've benefited from Cowley. They do a lot of our classroomtraining on an as-needed basis, which frees us up to do other things. They are very quick in response to ourneeds. They've helped us in many areas.""Whatever industry needs, we want to be there for them," Cole said. "Flexibility is so critical."Cowley's employment application review for Rubbermaid includes verifying dates with previous employers.If everything checks out, interviews are scheduled for Rubbermaid to handle. After a successful interview,applicants are run through a test, designed by Rubbermaid, administered by Cowley. One of®>Rubbermaid's objectives in all this is to decrease its employee turnover rate.On top of a pre-employment training facility being planned for Rubbermaid, Cowley also has developed