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Nine Ithaca residents have a new job skill and the credentials to prove it. The first class to complete a Commercial Drivers License (CDL) course funded by a Community Development Block Grant will be honored at City Hall next Wednesday. The course provides free classroom and hands-on training to unemployed and underemployed residents, with a focus on women and people of color.

“I’m very proud of the trainees,” said CDL trainer Lillian Lightbourn, a former TCAT bus driver who developed the program. “They have worked hard and now they have something valuable to show for it.” A Commercial Drivers License is a requirement for jobs driving tractor trailers, dump trucks, school buses, transit buses, and more.

The program involves both classroom and behind-the-wheel training. In addition to the license, the trainees receive a passenger endorsement and a school bus endorsement, enabling them to drive transit or school buses. Trainees who complete the program are fully employable, and the program includes assistance with job placement. At least three of the program graduates have job offers, said Lightbourn, and others are waiting to hear from prospective employers.

The program received a federal grant through the City of Ithaca and is sponsored by a group of community partners including Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga BOCES, Tompkins Community Action, Greater Ithaca Activities Center, TCAT, and the employment offices at the City and Tompkins County.

The graduation ceremony for the first group of CDL trainees will be held at Ithaca City Hall at 11:00 a.m., November 22. The next training will start on December 4, and two more courses will be taught next year.

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