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There are more than fifty thousand school buses traveling the roads of New York state every day, picking up students at their homes and bus stops and dropping them off safely at school. Now, employees from 49 school districts throughout the state are learning how to more efficiently manage school bus routes through a new program offered by Schenectady County Community College and Transfinder.

SCCC and Schenectady-based Transfinder, a leader for 25 years in the school transportation industry, are offering a workforce development training program to fill a need for school bus transportation personnel now and in the future.

Not only does the training educate current school district personnel and Transfinder employees, ensuring that they have the latest skills to manage pupil transportation, it also will prepare them for the future, creating a new pipeline of managers, as experienced managers and supervisors are nearing retirement age.

Transfinder President and CEO Antonio Civitella noted that more school districts will find an increased efficiency in their transportation departments’ operations as a result of the training and by utilizing Transfinder software. Civitella said, “This is an exciting partnership to forge with SCCC on a workforce development program that will enable Transfinder clients to develop their skills so that they can make an even greater contribution to their districts’ bottom line performance, while continuing to offer safe transport for their students.”

The training program specifically offers proficiency in school bus routing, operational efficiency and pupil transportation logistics management. Those in the program participate in online, hands-on training sessions on a weekly basis for a total of up to 45 total hours, learning best practices for transportation logistics. The initial program offering is funded through a State University of New York Community College Workforce Development Training Grant. The goal is to expand the program offering to Transfinder’s other client school districts throughout the United States, while simultaneously achieving industry recognition of the training from the National Association of Pupil Transportation.

Matthew Grattan, Executive Director of Workforce Development at SCCC, said that working with Transfinder has been a positive experience. “The opportunity to work with a national leader in software development for the pupil transportation industry is something we are very fortunate to have here in Schenectady,” he said. “Transfinder personnel have been outstanding to work with, and we look forward to a longstanding working relationship with them and their client school districts for many years to come.”

The training is instrumental to Transfinder’s future, as the company expands its presence and employee base in downtown Schenectady with a new $7M headquarters scheduled to open in 2013. The company expects to create new positions, especially within its Client Services Department, as it expands, and this training is a nice fit to prepare individuals for those positions.

About SCCC
One of the 30 community colleges in the State University of New York system, the nation's largest comprehensive system of higher education, Schenectady County Community College in upstate New York enrolls more than 7,000 students. SCCC offers more than 40 career degree, transfer degree and certificate programs. The College opened its doors for classes in 1969 and continues to provide affordable comprehensive higher education and adult educational opportunities in response to local educational needs.

About Transfinder
Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Schenectady, New York, Transfinder is a national leader in student transportation management systems and services, offering routing and scheduling solutions for optimal transportation logistics. A business partner of Pitney Bowes Business Insight – MapInfo, Transfinder applies MapInfo's industry-leading mapping technology and database management to deliver superior transportation and logistics management solutions. Transfinder products allow school districts to manage bus routes, provide safe and efficient student transportation, and access a wealth of critical district information. For more information, visit www.transfinder.com.