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- Written by: Pam Harpster
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – MPIC Inc., A Working Connection! is excited to announce new training opportunities for businesses and job seekers that address customer service skills in the hospitality and tourism industry.
Excellent customer service is a skill necessary for all employees and one that will make your business more consumer friendly.
There are many job seekers with extensive experience in serving people in a variety of venues such as food service and retail. Local businesses, however, continually report that they are having difficulty in finding applicants with great customer service skills. No matter what type of job we have, customer service is a cornerstone of successful businesses.
A Working Connection! is offering a venue of training that will address practical skills to increase the sales and customer retention for our local businesses.
These interactive classes will provide practical strategies and training for employees already employed, job seekers looking for new opportunities and also those workers new to the workforce.
Participants will learn how to greet customers, deal with difficult people, and gain skills that promote a friendly and helpful atmosphere.
Working in collaboration with Mendocino College, Lake County Winegrape Commission, county of Lake, city of Lakeport and the city of Clearlake, courses to be offered include: Market Lake County – Tourism and Hospitality; Increase your Customer Service; Fine Dining – Fine Wine and Food service; Dealing with Difficult Customers; Effective Strategies for Returning Customers and Increasing Sales; Food Handlers Class and Certification, and more.
Special workshops also will be included to teach skills to promote a positive view of Lake County; promoting the county is a large part of customer service.
This training will be tailored to meet the specific needs of Lake County, providing information not just about customer service but also how to inform visitors of the wonders of the county to increase returning and new visitors.
Job seekers who have been laid off and are looking for work may qualify for special funding for the classes as well as job development services.
Attendees will receive certificates that can be added to their resume as employers will appreciate the skills attained in these valuable classes.
Employers interested in participating in these training opportunities or hiring successful candidates are encouraged to contact Pam or Christy at 707-263-0630 or 707-994-9007.
The first class will be held at Mendocino College on Dec. 11 at 3 p.m.
To sign up, please inquire at WorkforceLake at 55 First St., Lakeport, telephone 707-263-0630, or WorkforceLake at 14092 Lakeshore Drive, Clearlake.
Pam Harpster is program director and business services coordinator of MPIC Inc.
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- Written by: Editor
SACRAMENTO – Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. on Thursday announced the approval of the state’s new flammability standards for upholstered furniture, the culmination of the administration’s year-long effort to modernize the standards and reduce Californians’ exposure to harmful flame retardant chemicals.
“Today, California is curbing toxic chemicals found in everything from high chairs to sofas,” said Gov. Brown. “These new standards will keep the furniture in our homes fire-safe and limit unnecessary exposure to toxic flame retardants.”
Last year, Gov. Brown directed state agencies to revise California’s nearly 40-year-old flammability standards for upholstered furniture sold in the state to reflect modern manufacturing methods that can reduce the use of harmful chemicals.
Numerous studies have found links between exposure to chemicals used as flame retardants in upholstered furniture and cancer and fertility issues. These chemicals also disproportionately impact children. One study found toddlers can have up to three times the level of flame retardants in their bodies as their parents.
The new standards will protect Californians from the most common ignition sources of fires, namely smoldering sources such as cigarettes, space heaters and extension cords.
It also more effectively addresses upholstery cover fabric, requires the use of barrier materials with smolder-prone materials and tests the interactions of all the materials that go into a piece of upholstered furniture.
The previous standards included an open-flame test for filling materials, such as foam, which were treated with flame retardants.
The new standards eliminate an open flame test for filling materials. A number of manufacturers have already stated that under the new standards, they will no longer have to use flame retardants, and will either meet the requirements through the use of more smolder-resistant cover fabrics or smolder-resistant barriers beneath the cover fabrics.
“The previous standards focused predominantly on filling materials, where fires don’t actually start,” said Tonya Blood, chief of the Bureau of Electronic and Appliance Repair, Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation, which led the effort to develop the new standards. “The new standards were developed to address where the fire begins, which is the cover fabric, and to focus on the interactions of the cover fabric and filling materials.”
Beginning Jan. 1, 2014, manufacturers may begin manufacturing to the new standards. They will have a year to complete the transition and must come into full mandatory compliance on Jan. 1, 2015.
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- Written by: Editor
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Wednesday, Nov. 13, the Clearlake Police Department and the California Alcohol Beverage Control conducted a training class for businesses in the county that are licensed to sell alcohol.
Several businesses and their employees attended the training, Licensee Education on Alcohol and Drugs or LEADS.
The training class was free and voluntary to the businesses owners and its employees. It focused on obligations on serving alcoholic beverages safely, responsibly, legally and preventing illicit drug activity at the licensed establishments.
The class also covered criminal laws, ABC administrative laws, as well as prevention and education to all licensed business that sells alcohol.
The Clearlake Police Department thanked the California Beverage Control and Agent Kathy Chavez for providing the training class.
Any businesses wanting information on the, LEADS training class can contact the local Alcohol Beverage Control Office in Santa Rosa, 707-576-2165.
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- Written by: Editor
The Central California Dungeness crab season will open on Friday, Nov. 15 south of the Mendocino County line.
The season opener will be preceded by an 18-hour gear setting period when crab trap gear can be set no earlier than 6 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 14.
Quality tests conducted in the Central California region in early November indicate that California Dungeness crabs are ready for harvest.
The 2013-14 commercial Dungeness crab season also marks the first season that the Dungeness crab trap limit program will be in effect.
The program consists of seven tiers of trap allotments ranging from 175 to 500 traps. Dungeness crab vessel permit-holders can only fish the maximum number of traps within their respective trap tier. Washington and Oregon implemented their trap limit programs in 1999 and 2006, respectively. California now joins those ranks.
More information on the Dungeness crab trap limit program, please visit www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/invertebrate/traplimit.asp .