Gallery
2 Photos

Students Samuel Cano (left) and Steven Silva diagnose an LG washing machine inside the Appliance Service Technology lab Thursday, Oct. 1. (Damian Lewin)

In what Dean of Career Technical Education and Social Sciences Natalie Hannum called “a great partnership between higher education and business,” students and faculty of the Appliance Service Technology program are preparing for a new joint venture with LG Appliances and Electronics, one that shows promise of a future in the service industry for many of the students completing the program.
“I’m honored,” said student Samuel Cano, who is in his second semester of the program. “I’m ready to get into those products.”
As the only community college in California providing an appliance services program, LMC was contacted by LG early last spring in an effort to find more information on how the company could support the school.
“They sent out their senior service adviser and they came and visited the school along with one of their trainers. And they liked what they saw,” said instructor Leonard “Len” Price, describing the company’s initial visit to the campus that resulted in LG’s desire to support the appliance program.
While the formal signing of the contract between LG and LMC will not happen until Oct. 8 when company representatives return to campus, students in the program have already been able to begin taking a look into some of the products the company has to offer.
“They have diagnostics with an app on your phone,” said student Steven Silva as he described having recently worked on an LG refrigerator. “The refrigerator will just tell you exactly what’s wrong with it.”
Along with Silva, who is concluding his final semester in the program, LG service technicians currently working in the industry will also benefit from the upcoming partnership.
“When a new product comes out, technicians from the area will come to LMC to be trained,” said Price, “And LMC students can attend for free.”
In addition to supplying appliances for students to learn on and the promise of future training on new products, LG has also provided web-based and written materials to the college to further implement its involvement with the program.
“We want to see the curriculum reflected in the partnership,” added Hannum, stressing the importance of having students learn hands-on with the products that a partnering company has to offer.
“You got to have industry support,” added Price, describing how the ultimate benefits can be achieved not only for students pursuing a career in the appliance service industry, but to the local community as well.
With the ongoing support of companies such as Maytag, Whirlpool, Bosch and now LG, the “industry support” that Price described now looks to become even greater as the list of partnerships between major corporations and LMC continues to rise.