HAUPPAUGE – Congratulations to the Class of ‘09 . . . but no, this was not a high school or college graduation that Suffolk Executive Steven Levy recognized last week—it was the latest example of the successful collaboration between the Suffolk County Labor Department and Stony Brook University, helping the unemployed attain additional skills to become even more “job ready.”

Project Management Certification is a course of study that has now graduated four classes of dislocated workers.  According to the county executive, now is the time that this type of program is needed most, as a teetering national economy impacts numerous workers and companies alike.

“Managers in all fields have been hard hit by the worldwide economic downturn,” said Levy.  “Project Management training allows the highly-skilled, unemployed individual to keep themselves in the game and become even more valuable to companies that are hiring.”

“Project Management Certification is rapidly becoming a leading requirement for managers in all industry sectors,” said Suffolk Labor Commissioner Robert Dow. “It is a growing, globally recognized professional endeavor that is available at a time that certified project managers remain in great demand.  By partnering with Stony Brook University in this endeavor, we are able to give our job-seeking customers another avenue to success.”

Dow explained that participants in the program learn planning, organizational and project management skills through the joint efforts of Stony Brook University, Project Management Certification Total Systems Education, Ltd., and the Project Management Institute (PMI®) Long Island Chapter.