News release
Lief Labs, a Valencia-based manufacturer of dietary supplements, announced that the company has launched its Lief University Mechanical Foundations training program in partnership with College of the Canyons and welcomed Lief’s employee students to the first day of classes at a special event hosted at the company’s headquarters.
This Lief University continuing education program was created with assistance from COC education leaders who helped to identify program instructors and assisted with the course curricula development, which covers a range of skilled maintenance functions to provide the participating employees with valuable skills and knowledge to support them in career enrichment and advancement opportunities as supervisors and leaders at Lief.
Lief’s Bardia Eslami, vice president of engineering and technology, and John Alford, senior management consultant of TBM Consulting Group, directed and executed the Lief University initiative and also contributed to the program’s course development.
Fourteen Lief employees will participate in the initial Lief University session, which will run over a 14-week period at Lief’s Avenue Paine headquarters. Participants will receive intensive instruction in areas such as tooling, print reading, tool applications, basic electrical and hydraulics, among other key maintenance skills for positions including mechanics, leads and operators. Lief aims to expand Lief University in the future to a larger training center at another of the company’s facilities to offer courses to the community and students outside of Lief’s employee base.
The Lief University launch and formal program speakers included COC Chancellor Dianne G. Van Hook; Adel Villalobos, CEO and founder of Lief Labs; and Bardia Eslami, vice president of engineering and technology for Lief Labs.
“Lief University and the development of an educational program that invests in our people to provide them with increased skill sets to support them in their professional and personal journeys has been a dream of mine for some time and I am humbled to see this vision now become a reality. I’m extremely grateful to Chancellor Van Hook and College of the Canyons for their tremendous support in helping us bring this vision to life,” said Villalobos. “I also look forward to expanding Lief University in the future to offer these valuable educational opportunities to the community outside of Lief and help build a stronger skilled workforce, not only at our company, but for the broader Santa Clarita Valley region. As a member of the Los Angeles CEO council, it is also a commitment of mine to ensure our California workforce remains competitive and we create the right environment for businesses and communities to thrive.”
“College of the Canyons is excited to partner with Lief Labs to offer the Mechanical Foundations training program,” said Van Hook. “By creating on-site training classes customized to companies’ specific needs, COC offers firms a competitive advantage in staying at the leading edge of their industries. As well, the instruction employees receive creates a pathway to other career-building learning opportunities at College of the Canyons. This is just the beginning, and we look forward to seeing how we can grow this program for the benefit of Lief Labs and their employees.”
