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2016-2022 EDUCATIONAL AND FACILITIES MASTER PLAN
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1 – BACKGROUND

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT accommodate emerging technologies and careers
in the medical fields, advanced manufacturing,
College of the Canyons’ history in providing sup- aerospace, art media and design, film and entertain-
port for economic development in the area of Santa ment, and manufacturing, intensified at a pace that
Clarita began in the late 1980s. was able to be supported with positive responses
due to the funding of grants at COC.
At that time, a local business person approached
then-President Dr. Dianne Van Hook and talked During that time, the college was able to grow
with her about having the College focus more significantly in its funded FTES and financial
on current and future buiness needs. Following a base. Now, years later, the college not only remains
“Vision 2000” luncheon hosted at Magic Moun- responsive to the needs in business and industry,
tain, the College officially launched its Economic but is always on the lookout for new opportunities
Development initiative by asking a new assistant that also can be pursued.
dean to take on that role and develop our contract
education potential. The rest is history! Whether it is a Center for International Trade
and Development (CITD), the initiation of a Fast
A VISION FOR THE FUTURE Track Training Institute or working with the city of
Back in 1989, Dr. Van Hook made a statement Santa Clarita to relocate (and eventually take over
in the Vision 2000 report that was published for the operation of) the Worksource Center in the
the community that “community colleges would University Center, the college’s economic develop-
become the graduate schools of the future.” That ment unit is forward-thinking.
certainly is the case with College of the
Canyons. The unit forges new partnerships and builds
bridges so that businesses already here and those
Thousands of people every year return to COC who want to come here can thrive in the Santa
for upgraded and technical training that was not Clarita Valley. In 2014-15 alone, the Economic
available in their bachelor’s and master’s degree Development Division generated and spent
programs when they completed them – and still $3,943,696* in revenue (an all-time high),
is not readily available at four-year colleges and enabling the college to serve 833 businesses and
universities. As such, the College continues to be more than 2,985 employees.
the primary trainer and educator of the workforce
in the Santa Clarita Valley, a distinction that it will In 2014, College of the Canyons worked closely
certainly hold for decades to come. with local business and industry and provided
leadership and resources to help create a local
Due to the planned development of a number of economic development corporation from the
commercial and business parks in the Santa Clarita ground up.
Valley in the 1990s and 2000s, the demand for • The Center for Applied and Competitive
access to upgrade training for existing employees, The college continues to provide services to the • Technologies (CACT)
the development of new training initiatives, the business community via a variety of job and • The Employee Training Institute (ETI)
augmenting of the college’s regular curriculum to service-oriented branches, including: • The Fast Track Institute

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