Business Certificate Program in Tri-Cities

Ashley Lake and her colleague, Jarrod Franson, are employees at Sun Pacific Energy in Kennewick, WA. Both attended Consulting & Business Development Center’s Business Certificate Program in the fall of 2015.

Business Certificate Program participants discussing class material

The class was comprised of local business professionals affiliated with companies ranging from startups to long established firms. During this course we quickly became a team with our classmates; we offered each other business advice for situations we experienced, and learned to give and take constructive criticism. The community we built together in those six weeks helped us all gain insight into each other’s business concepts and practices.

The major areas of study in the course were Accounting & Finance, Marketing, and Management. Jarrod and I work with each of these areas daily in our roles at Sun Pacific Energy. This course brought all of those parts and pieces together for us and gave us the tools and ideas to help move the business forward.

We found immense value in the marketing section when our class was tasked with building a marketing plan. Currently, Sun Pacific Energy is entering the fourth successive generation of management, and the entire organization is taking a step back to look at the company’s brand moving toward the future. We are excited to bring our marketing ideas from the classroom to implement them into the reality of our workplace.

This class helped us formalize our plans and set them in motion and we definitely agree that this program is one that businesses shouldn’t miss out on!

Thank you to Columbia Basin Community College for providing a place to host the program. Thanks to the instructors for taking the time to make the trip to the Tri-Cities and for making the class informative, engaging, and fun.

– Ashley Lake, Sun Pacific Energy