Press Releases - Free Basic Skills Training to Empower U.S. Workforce

16/03/2009

Free Basic Skills Training to Empower U.S. Workforce

Pictured at the official announcement of the agreement are left to right, Mike Feerick, CEO, ALISON, An Taoiseach, Brian Cowen TD, Chairman of Enterprise Ireland, Mr Hugh Cooney and President, Geographic Solutions, Mr Paul Toomey.

GALWAY, Ireland and NEW YORK, NY (March 16, 2009) — Ireland-based ALISON, supplier of the ALISON.com free online learning website, said today that its acclaimed Basic Skills Training courseware will be integrated into online workforce support systems provided by Florida-based Geographic Solutions, Inc. Geographic Solutions is the leading U.S. provider of software solutions for workforce development, employment, and training, serving 29 state agencies in support of federally-funded employment and training programs.

The news was announced following a breakfast in New York City hosted by Enterprise Ireland, the Government Agency responsible for driving leadership and growth for innovative Irish companies in international markets. The event was one of several associated with a trade mission to the U.S. led by Ireland’s Prime Minister, Brian Cowen.

ALISON chief executive officer, Mike Feerick said his firm’s ALISON ABC IT package, a comprehensive online skills package that features Internet and desktop applications training, and ALISON Manager, a related package for trainers and teachers, will be integrated into two key Geographic Solutions products: Virtual OneStop™ and Virtual LMI V10. Both packages are scheduled for release in up to 10 U.S. states during 2009.

“As we experience tightening budgets and increasing unemployment, development of stronger workforce skills is a task of the highest priority, both in the U.S. and abroad,” Feerick said. “The key aspect of this deal is that any job or employment consultant working with a U.S. State employment organization will be able to track the learning record on ALISON of any learner introduced by it to the learning service. This will enable case managers with the ability to directly review the learning effort and achievement of those seeking job assistance.”

Deane Toler, director of marketing at Geographic Solutions noted that Virtual OneStop and Virtual LMI V10 products will offer multiple workforce benefits to clients and their customers, including the ability to simultaneously register system users on the ALISON e-learning programs. “The combination of these advanced technologies makes it possible for over two million new learners to register on the ALISON system during the first year of integration,” he said. “Additionally, employment consultants will be able to track the learning process, make course corrections and monitor effectiveness.”

In 2008, ALISON was recognized in a U.K. Government Report from the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), which cited the company’s innovative role in adult learning, offering “new technology that is opening up the world of knowledge and offering flexible and exciting ways to learn.”

Contacts

Mike Feerick
CEO, ALISON
Email: mfeerick@alison.com
Tel.

+1-202-403-3223

Deane Toler
Director of Marketing
Geographic Solutions, Inc.
Tel. +353-831-757-4400

ALISON

ALISON provides freely-accessible online basic skills training to registered learners in every country worldwide. Its free learning content covers workplace skills including IT Skills, Health and Safety Compliance, Languages, Psychometrics and Financial and Health Literacy. ALISON will shortly release a freely accessible interactive high school curriculum. The mission of ALISON is to enable anyone, anywhere, to educate themselves for free via interactive self-paced multimedia. ALISON is a privately owned company with offices in Galway, Ireland and Morristown, New Jersey. For more information, please visit www.alison.com.

Geographic Solutions

Geographic Solutions is a privately owned company with corporate offices located in Palm Harbor, Florida. For over fifteen years the company has specialized in providing innovative employment and training solutions to state and local workforce agencies. Virtual OneStop® is the leading operating system in workforce development industry. The system is utilized by sixteen state and nearly twenty local regions throughout the United States. Virtual LMI is the industry’s primary labor market information delivery and analysis solution. Virtual LMI has been implemented by the Department of Labor in nineteen states. Currently, over 75 percent of the jobseekers and employers in the United States have access to software developed by the company. For more information on Geographic Solutions, Inc. visit www.geographicsolutions.com.

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