NewLife Technical Institute Featured on WKBN News

NewLife Technical Institute launches Medical Transcription program

East Liverpool, Ohio – February 12, 2009:  NewLife Technical Institute (NewLife) is announcing the launch of their Medical Transcription program.  The program will prepare students for a career in medical recording; the program offers a career with flexibility and independence – the first class is scheduled to begin March 23^rd.

“We’ve been searching for sometime for a program that will expand our impact in this area,” said NewLife President and founder Craig Newbold.  “The medical transcription field is well suited for single parents that find it difficult to work a standard 9-5 job.  Many opportunities exist in this field that allow people to work from their homes,  during hours they choose.”

NewLife Technical Institute is a nationally accredited technical school that was founded in 2004 to help address the high unemployment rate in rural areas. NewLife provides training to individuals residing in the Upper Ohio Valley of Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. NewLife programs are designed to equip individuals for careers in high demand fields, with short training periods. NewLife programs address the professional work skills that employers indicate are as important as technical skills in today’s work force.

NewLife Technical Institute receives approval to accept veterans educational benefits

East Liverpool, Ohio – January 15, 2009: NewLife Technical Institute (NewLife) is happy to announce that veterans and eligible family members seeking to further their education may now apply their educational benefits to NewLife’s Advanced Software Development program. Approval was received from the Ohio Department of Education State Approving Agency for Veterans Training. NewLife is also an approved training provider for disabled veterans through the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Service.

"We’re really excited about the prospect of serving our armed service men and women" said NewLife President and founder Craig Newbold. "Everyday, they make tremendous sacrifices for us! It is a privilege and honor to be in a position to serve them in return."

NewLife Technical Institute is a nationally accredited program that was founded in 2004 to help address the shortage of Information Technology talent. NewLife provides IT training to individuals residing in the Upper Ohio Valley of Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. NewLife programs are developed and taught by IT professionals and address contemporary technology skills as well as the professional work skills that employers indicate are as important as technical skills in today’s work force.

NewLife graduates are prepared for employment in Information Technology in as little as 6 months Graduates are encouraged to continue their education after obtaining employment by attending one of several area colleges including Jefferson Community College (JCC) and Beaver County Community College (BCCC) that have articulated with NewLife. These agreements allow graduates to transfer up to 30 credits toward an Associates Degree. Students who take advantage of this agreement with JCC will also be able to participate in an agreement between JCC and Ohio University Eastern Campus which allows graduates of JCC's Associate of Individualized Study degree program to complete a bachelor's program by taking the equivalent of two years of coursework through Ohio University.

To lean more about NewLife and its programs, visit www.newlife.edu, or call 330.386.0445.

NewLife Technical Institute EDA Award Finalist

East Liverpool, May 27, 2008:  On May 15, 2008, the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) recognized NewLife Technical Institute as a finalist for the EDA Excellence in Economic Development Awards 2008.  Nomination were awarded to institutions receiving the three highest evaluations in their respective category qualified as finalists.

NewLife is one of three finalists nationally in the category of Excellence in Community and Faith-Based Social Entrepreneurship.  The nominations are evaluated to determine how effectively they advance community and faith-based entrepreneurship in redevelopment strategies for areas of chronic economic distress.

The EDS Awards recognize innovative economic development strategies of national significance.  The Awards are designed to showcase best practices and highlight outstanding results.  A selection Panel, appointed by the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, will evaluate the nominations.  The Awards are commemorative and will be presented in award ceremonies in the winners' respective communities following EDA's announcement of the eight winning nominations.  Members of the winners' respective congressional delegations will be invited to present each Award with a senior official of the Department of Commerce.

Craig Newbold, found, President and Chairman of the Board of NewLife Technical Institute says, "It's very encouraging to receive national recognition for the work we are doing in East Liverpool.  It reminds us that we're making an impact and helps us to focus on our mission; offer the residents of this community and those around us hope for a brigher future through career skills training in growth industries."

NewLife Technical Institute featured on WKBN's Salute to Success

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NewLife Technical Institute and Jefferson Community College form articulation agreement

East Liverpool, Ohio - July 8, 2008:  NewLife Technical Institute is pleased to announce an articulation agreement has been formed with Jefferson Community College (JCC) in Steubenville, Ohio.  This agreement allows graduates of NewLife's Advanced Software Development program to transfer 30 credits directly into JCC's Associate of Individualized Study Degree program.

Craig Newbold, Founder and President of NewLife Technical Institute stated, We're really excited about the opportunity this provides our graduates and future students.  NewLife's focus has always been to prepare students for success in the Information Technology industry.  Though our approach has been very successful, more than 90% of graduates are currently working in their field of study, we've been unable to grant degrees upon completion due to our accelerated, one year programs.  Now through this articulation, NewLife graduates can apply their education from NewLife toward a degree if they so choose.

Students who take advantage of this new agreement will also be able to participate in an agreement between JCC and Ohio University Eastern Campus which allows graduates of JCC's Associate of Individualized Study degree program to complete a bachelor's program by taking the equivalent of two years of coursework through Ohio University.

NewLife Technical Institute is a nationally accredited program that was founded in 2004 to help address the shortage of Information Technology talent.  NewLife is an innovative non-profit training provider that provides IT training to individuals residing in the Upper Ohio Valley of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.  NewLife programs are developed and taught by IT professionals and address contemporary technology skills as well as the professional work skills that employers indicate are as important as technical skills in today's work force.

To learn more about the school and its programs please visit www.NewLife.edu.  NewLife Technical Instite is currently accepting students for fall classes beginning August 25.

Newbold builds attitude and aptitude

By Jeremy Lydic // July 1, 2008

Reprinted with permission from the July edition of The Business Journal, Youngstown, OH.

A rising tide lifts all ships, but without direction they just float.

To help the underprivileged chart courses for their careers, Craig Newbold has launched the American Spirit Initiative, a combination of business and education.  Newbold, who started the effort in 2004, has developed partnerships with businesses, educational institutions, faith-based organizations and governments in Columbiana and Mahoning counties.

He founded the nonprofit NewLife Technical Institute and the for-profit Newbold Technologies, the highest profile entities of the initiative.

He did so to demonstrate that the people employers were likely to view as "highly risky" could succeed once they received the proper training, Newbold says.  A young person from Appalachia with a high school diploma could get an entry-level job in information technology; employers don't have to outsource these jobs offshore.

Appalachia can be attractive to companies "because of lower costs of doing business, lower salaries and a high quality of living, " Newbold says.  "American companies by and large don't want to go offshore, but feel they have no other alternative."

Last year, the Commission of the Council on Occupational Education, Atlanta, Ga., approved NewLife's curriculum, Newbold says.  This opened the doors for NewLife to work with other educational institutions, such as Jefferson County Community College and Beaver County (Pa.) Community College, that have signed articulation agreements.

Such agreements allow students to get full credit for courses taken at NewLife at the college where they transfer.  Graduates of NewLife can earn from 18 - 36 credit hours by completing a program that Newbold says encourages students to further their educations.

"It gives them incentive to go to college by having credits already in their pockets," Newbold says.  "Our goal is not to compete, but to take people who want to be in the IT field and have them go to college."

Ryan Walker of East Liverpool enrolled in NewLife in 2006 for a five-month software development program.  Less than a month after he graduated, he says, he was interviewing for a job.  Today he works as a software engineer creating logistics applications for AIM NationaLease in Girard, a trucking company.  Walker manages the dispatching software, which he completely rewrote a year and a half ago, he says.

"[NewLife] gave me a new perspective on things," Walker says.  "It's not like other college experiences.  I got a lot of one-on-one time with the instructors."

After graduating from high school in 2003, Walker worked a minimum-wage job in a meat packing plant.  Walker says he is waiting for his fiancee to graduate with her teaching degree so they can move to Girard.  He is happy at his job, he says, but "would like to get an associate's or bachelor's degree in computer science or business."

Some NewLife graduates work full-time with NewBold Technologies Inc., where they develop software and provide outsourcing services for companies.  The customer base primarily is companies within a 50-mile radius of East Liverpool, but also includes customers in Atlanta and Seattle.

One of the company's customers, The Orchards at Foxcrest, is a small, family-owned retirement community in Chester, W.Va. Theresa Bosel, director of marketing for Foxcrest, says her company had "very few computers and no network" before Newbold Technologies worked with its staff to buy new equipment and establish a network.  Newbold also designed Foxcrest's Web site.

"[Newbold Technologies] came in and revamped everything," Bosel relates.  "They tailored a specific way for us to operate, and spent the time to listen to and address our concerns.  Newbold has bent over backwards to be our partner."

Working with other companies to help them grow is one aspect of Newbold's "holistic" approach to doing business, he says.  Profits are "not the driving factor" for the American Spirit Initiative.  The idea, Newbold says, is "to draw other entities together to collaborate and develop the area.  East Liverpool is a hub zone to be taken advantage of."

One of Newbold's goals is to develop affordable housing for young workers not yet ready to buy a house, he says.  He has bought some 12 buildings in downtown East Liverpool for that purpose.

He describes the prices he paid as "inexpensive."  Although the buildings are in good condition, Newbold says buyers "have a major expense in bringing them up to code."  One building, across the street from the NewLife/Newbold offices, 114 W. Fifth St., was recently withdrawn from sheriff's sale; it would have cost $300,000 to $500,000 to renovate, Newbold says.  His intention is to put in 50 housing units.

Newbold acquired the vacated YMCA building, 235 Fourth St., and plans to move the NewLife/Newbold offices there.  The building on West Fifth, he says, will house the forthcoming K-12 private school, which will be dubbed the American Spirit Academy.  The curriculum will be developed in co-operation with national educators and will provide an "intensive, high-quality education with character development," Newbold says.

"One of the top priorities with employers is finding employees they can rely on.  It's not strictly an educational endeavor, and it's not strictly a business endeavor.  We're preparing them for work, whether it's white-collar or blue-collar."

NewLife is working with the East Liverpool Christian School to open a high school this fall, Newbold says.  A portion of the curriculum will be cyber-based, but will be taught in school rather than at home, thus five or six teachers will be needed to start out, he says.

"[East Liverpool Christian School] views the partnership as part of their mission to provide a high-quality education and to keep people in the area," Newbold says.

Education programs at the institute's level are based on job need in the IT industry, Donald Bean says.  Bean is the marketing and admissions representative for the NewLife Institute.  Admission requirements included two interviews, one informant, and passing basic mathematics and computer aptitude tests.  The screening is designed to ensure applicants have the "attitude and aptitude" necessary to graduate.  Ninety applicants were interviewed for the last class cycle, Bea says.  Of those, 20 were tested and three accepted.

"The testing process does what it's intended to do," Bean says.  "A good class size is 10 students, and 15 are ideal."

Computer Support Technology is a new half-day, 11-month program, which deals more with hardware, securing networks and building/repairing computers, Bean says.  Tuition is $11,250, and NewLife accepts Title IV financial aid and FAFSA.  The software development program runs part-time for one year, costs $15,500, and teaches programming fundamentals and logic programs, such as Java and Microsoft C Sharp.

Newbold moved to Pittsburgh in 1978 and worked with Computer Task Group, Buffalo, N.Y.  He managed the Cincinnati branch of the company until he was promoted and started a West Coast region of the company in San Francisco.

Concerned that the Computer Task Group was abandoning some of its core principles, Newbold opened Best Consulting in Seattle, Wash., in 1990.  The firm grew to 1,200 employees within 10 years, and was a reional company that encompassed seven states when he sold it, he says.