Are you a business looking for skilled employees, or a laborer looking to advance your career?

Or maybe you are just interested in cake decorating or soap making as a hobby.If so, Carbon Career & Technical Institute's Adult Education department, located at 150 W. 13th St., Jim Thorpe, has programs available to meet all your needs."We want people to know we are here helping businesses and the general public build a strong workforce," Heather Mullen, adult education site supervisor, said. "For businesses looking for classes in forklift training or customer service training, we can help. If you are currently employed and want to improve on your skills, we can help with that as well."Or for people just looking for something fun to do, we can help with that too," she said.Mullen said that the adult education program has a wide array of options available in the business sector through partnerships with local businesses, CareerLink and Lehigh Carbon Community College to provide on-site and various workplace trainings; as well as personal interest classes such as cooking and yoga.Courses can include one-day training sessions to full credit courses, she noted, pointing out that there are programs for CDL Class A training, a nurses aide diploma, forklift training, mechanic certification, welding, HVAC, costmetology and nail technician certifications, introduction to Microsoft Word and Excel and driver's education.In addition to career training, CCTI also offers GED courses in Jim Thorpe and Lehighton and is an approved testing site for those ready to take the exam.Mullen said that how CCTI comes up with the courses is through the community itself."We decide on what to offer based on what would fit with the workforce in Carbon County," she said. "We work with local businesses to identify high priority occupations and see what the community is interested in."The school hosts orientations prior to courses being offered to see if there will be enough interest in the class, so Mullen said, if someone would like to have a personal interest class offered, all they need to do is ask, and she will see if there would be enough interest for a class to be held.Some of the things Mullen hopes to see in the future are more personal interest courses such as couponing and yoga, as well as summer camps to better serve the adult community."We have a lot of opportunities to offer fun things because of the facility (CCTI) and the amenities this school has," she said, noting that CCTI's technical classrooms are perfect locations for some of the classes.Plus, Mullen said that one thing that stands out with the adult education program is cost."Costs vary by course, but there may be financial aid available if the course is identified as a high-priority career," she said, noting that with some career trainings, students may have to pay for the course upfront, but often times are then reimbursed through programs that pay for career training.For more information on CCTI's adult education programs, check them out on Facebook at

www.facebook.com/cctiadulted or

http://carboncti.org/adult-education or call Mullen at 570-325-3682 ext. 1517.