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SkillPlan, BC and Bow Valley College announce a transfer of ownership of TOWES

(April 5, 2004) - The joint venture partners in the development of the innovative assessment tool, TOWES, are announcing a change in management. Effective April 2004, production responsibilities will move from SkillPlan to Bow Valley College. Bow Valley will now provide customers with a combined sales and production function and will become the sole owner of TOWES.

SkillPlan initiated the move last summer. "Seven years of innovation and development has paid off. Our vision of TOWES as an assessment tool for the Canadian workforce is a reality," says Lynda Fownes, Executive Director of SkillPlan. "With its successful record serving the needs of industry and business, Bow Valley College has the resources to handle the increased volume of tests. We at SkillPlan will now concentrate on providing essential skills training to the unionized construction industry in British Columbia and developing work-related resource materials for a national audience."

Bow Valley College will focus on supplying the test nationally through its 33 college distributors across Canada. "We have been successful in marketing TOWES across Canada. With this transition, we now have a production team that will be able to handle the increased demand for the test," says Conrad Murphy, who leads the Business Development unit at Bow Valley College.

TOWES was developed in response to a need from the business community for a fair and equitable test that would assess skills in the context of the workplace. It is a unique test of skills that are essential to safe and productive work. The test items are developed using authentic workplace documents such as flow charts, invoices, and repair manuals.

Business customers in the oil sands, transportation, and diamond mining sectors are currently using TOWES. A TOWES score is increasingly considered an essential workplace credential that informs job preparation, hiring and training.

"We are pleased to distribute TOWES through our Canadian college partners," says Sharon Carry, President and CEO of Bow Valley College. "TOWES is a versatile tool that has uses in both the workplace and in college programs."

For more information:
Conrad Murphy
Director of TOWES
Phone: (403) 410-3195
Email: cmurphy@bowvalleycollege.ca

Page Updated: Tuesday, June 03, 2008