Edison Backs $6-Million Job Training Center in Compton

Southern California Edison today will hand over a $6-million worker-training facility to the community of Compton.

The Compton Regional Job Training Center, to be operated by a nonprofit board, will be staffed to train more than 1,000 out-of-work residents for jobs in everything from auto mechanics to supermarket cashiers. The Compton City Department of Employment and Training Services has already moved to the 38,000-square-foot facility.

When completed, the center will be the largest corporate-sponsored job training center in the area damaged by last year’s riots, the company said. Other skills to be taught include office work, hazardous waste handling, building renovation and maintenance and literacy instruction.

Edison and local volunteers refurbished Edison’s vacant Bullis Road service center, using $300,000 in paint and furnishings donated by other businesses in the region. Edison will also donate $400,000 a year for the five years for upkeep.

Some classes have already been held. Fifty students trained in auto repair are being placed in jobs, and each will receive $800 in tools donated by Sears, Roebuck & Co.

After the riots, Edison pledged to contribute $35 million over five years in cash, services and facilities to the residents of its South-Central Los Angeles service area.

“We’re now asking others--companies and communities--to contribute their efforts to making this center a continued success,” Edison Chief Executive John Bryson said.