IMTI Offers Training Certification Programs at Waterbury High Schools as College Education Option

With the ongoing mission to “Help tomorrow’s youth build their future today,” the Industrial Management & Training Institute (IMTI) has been using NCCER’s curriculum to present high school students with critical training in construction skills.

“Once the 102 hours of certified training are fulfilled,” explained Marcel Veronneau, IMTI founder, “those hours can be applied as a credit towards the related instruction hours that are required by the Connecticut Occupational Licensing Regulations for any apprenticeship construction job in Connecticut.

Trade schools have truly become today’s other colleges. These schools offer lower tuitions, faster entry into the workforce and the ability to be paid; plus, skills and training that can create a lifetime career.”

Waterbury’s Wilby, Crosby and Kennedy High Schools will adapt NCCER’s curriculum into their career and technical education (CTE) programs through IMTI’s sponsorship instruction. Since March of 2019, Dr. Verna D. Ruffin, superintendent of Waterbury Public Schools, has enthusiastically agreed to offer the CTE programs to Wilby, Crosby and Kennedy High School students.

To date, IMTI has certified four teachers in these schools to teach the Core course that includes classes in basic safety skills, basic rigging, introduction to construction math, drawings and hand tools along with several additional programs to meet the required 102 certified hours of training.

IMTI and Waterbury Public Schools staff members tour Crosby High School’s CTE Program.
Photographed (left to right): Paul Gwiazdoski, Marcel Veronneau and Michael Merati.

“The Waterbury Public School System,” commented Dr. Ruffin, “is excited to collaborate with the Industrial Management and Training Institute, which through a rigorous curriculum and hands-on training, has been preparing students for years in several technical fields. This unique partnership will elevate the district’s commitment to developing a robust career and technical education program.”

The public high school partnership program with NCCER and the Waterbury Public School System was initiated by Veronneau, who founded IMTI in 1986. For more than three decades, IMTI has been successfully training electricians, plumbers and HVAC technicians in current technologies and career-oriented job skills.

Curriculum for all IMTI programs focuses on classroom study and practical hands-on industry skill training. All graduates are equipped with the training, assistance and education needed to obtain careers in high-demand technical industries and receive all the related instruction hours necessary to obtain a state of Connecticut license.

“IMTI’s primary mission is to provide up-to-date training programs that prepare students with gainful employment or advancement in their chosen field for a sustainable career path,” explained Veronneau.

IMTI has been approved by the State of Connecticut Commissioner of Higher Education, the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC), and the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER).

“The benefits of having IMTI as an NCCER Accredited Training Sponsor,” continued Veronneau, “is that we are responsible for delivering quality NCCER construction craft training programs to high school teachers based on NCCER’s nationwide standardized criteria. By providing the Instructor Certified Training Program (ICTP) to high school teachers, IMTI is sanctioned to ensure the uniform and consistent delivery of training as certified by NCCER. Once a student completes the 102 hours with NCCER, those hours will be credited toward IMTI’s apprenticeship program.”

Currently, IMTI is an Accredited Training Sponsor to 10 high school CTE programs in New York City and the BOCES schools in Westchester County and Long Island. To date, IMTI has trained and certified over 140 IMTI instructors and proctors through NCCER’S ICTP, including four teachers in Waterbury and over 30 in New York City. IMTI has also issued over 600 NCCER credentials for high school students in New York City since 2016.

“As one of only two NCCER Accredited Training Sponsors in Connecticut,” stated Veronneau, “we hope that more education systems in our region will want to offer this standardized craft training curriculum in CTE programs to their students as a viable alternative to attending college and a path that will lead them to lifelong careers in the construction industry.”

IMTI is open five days every week, offering day, evening and weekend in-classroom courses, plus continuing education courses for licensed plumbers and electricians. For more information on IMTI technical training programs, visit imti.edu or call 203-753-7910 in Waterbury, Connecticut.