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From Software Tchnician to LPN, Ex-Kodaker Finds a New Career and Skills with RochesterWorks! Training Funds 

Stan Lipiec, a software technician at Eastman Kodak Co., who had worked there for 25 years found out in October 2006 that he was being laid off. With only on-the-job training and no formal education as a software technician, his chances did not look promising to find similar work.

Lipiec, who is also a veteran, did enjoy his work as a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician at the local fire department. And after doing some career exploration with Edward Taggart, an Employment Counselor with the Department of Labor, Lipiec received a $7,550 RochesterWorks! training grant to go back to school and become a Licensed Practical Nurse.

“I don’t know if I would have been able to afford to do that without the training grant,” Lipiec says. “It was a good career change for me. This is the type of job I’ll be able to work in for the rest of my working career,” he says.

Lipiec graduated at the top of his class with perfect attendance at Genesee Valley BOCES in February. He now works as a LPN on a medical-surgical floor at Rochester General Hospital.

For others who might need some assistance deciding on a career path, RochesterWorks! can guide them through the career decision making process, says Lee Koslow, Career Services Advisor Team Leader at RochesterWorks!
 
“If an individual is in need of classroom or on-the-job training to reach their career goal, RochesterWorks! can help pay for the cost of such training,” Koslow says.

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