Various testimonials and notable improvements in the company proved that the Crucial Conversations training helped the employees in "all areas of their lives," said spokeswoman Paula Critchlow. "Salt Lake Community College just made it easier and more cost-effective to implement the crucial training."

Although funds are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, SLCC pays nearly half of training expenses as well as provides additional services to pull off many kinds of training. Scheduling is flexible, as well as the type of training offered as long as the recipient companies meet the requirements.

The training, Jones said, is not offered to nonprofit companies but those that are for profit and either new to the state or expanding and in need of upgraded and/or updated skills training for employees.

While SLCC serves primarily the Salt Lake and Tooele regions, UCAT provides similar programming in nearly every other region of the state. Companies of all sizes and types have taken advantage of Custom Fit to maintain a quality work force and strengthen various skills.

In designing a program to meet the needs of Carlisle SynTec, McCall said the Custom Fit contract/partnership with SLCC was what "kept us going in the right direction."

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E-mail: wleonard@desnews.com