Barbara Hartnett is the executive director of RiverTech Center in Peoria, a new center designed to further education and business technology.Upon graduating from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in psychology, she began her career in education as a special education and elementary school teacher for District 150.She went on to the department of psychology as a research assistant for Illinois State University, and from 1972 to 1973 she was a counselor, psychology instructor, and dorm director for Lincoln College.Illinois Central College was where she made her home as a professor of psychology for 18 years.Hartnett served as a director of QUEST Model Transfer program, and director of Adult Re-Entry Services from 1986-1991.During this time she founded the Women’s Chautauqua Lecture Series and Scholarship Fund.In 1991 she was director of Adult Programs working with all non-credit recreational classes and workshops with 3,000 students annually.Next she served as director of Corporate and Community Education organizing adult program offerings at the Professional Development Institute.In the Peoria community she has served as vice president for planning, Heart of Illinois United Way; founder and president Illinois Chapter, American Association of Women in Community Colleges; vice president, Peoria Chapter of Planned Parenthood; and co-chair of Peoria Women’s Coalition.Hartnett’s professional organizations include: American Association of Community Colleges, National Association for Women in Education, national Council on Community Services and Continuing Education, and Peoria Area Labor Management.In 1974 she received her M.S. in psychology from Illinois State University, and in 1994 she received her Ed.D. in Adult Education from Northern Illinois University.Hartnett also completed additional study at the American Management Institute in 1985 and the Masters and Johnson Institute in 1979, and Illinois State University in 1978 and 1990.
Tell us about your background-school attended, family, etc.
I’m a native of Chicago suburbs and went to an all-girls’ Catholic high school. Senior year I attended a party with a slew of young men form an all-boy’s Catholic high school and my fate was sealed.
There I met my future husband, Mike, and a few months later we went off together to the University of Illinois at Champaign. Four years later, we graduated from the U of I on a Saturday, got married Sunday, and moved to Peoria Monday. That was in 1968 and we have been tied to the Peoria area in one way or other ever since.
My husband and I both began our careers teaching in District 150. I taught a special education class at Tyng, then two years of 5th grade at Greeley before I decided to continue my studies in psychology and pursue a master’s degree at Illinois State University.
My husband was teaching at Richwoods at the time and working on his MS in counseling, so when we finished our course work, we both got jobs at Lincoln College. He was a counselor and I was the director of a women’s dorm. We lived for one year in a two-room apartment with 90 women, an experience neither of us will soon forget.
One year later I received a call from Illinois Central College asking if I was interested in teaching psychology; three weeks later I was standing in a class of 45 eager faces terrified out of my wits.
My husband was still at Lincoln College and was now in charge of all the dorms, so we continued to live in Lincoln—emergencies in dorms rarely occur at convenient times—and I commuted the 100-mile roundtrip daily.
Six years later, however, my husband lost his job and we moved back to Peoria. My husband made a career change and ended up working as assistant editor for one of the magazines then owned by PJS Publications.
I loved teaching and was very happy, content with the challenges of creating new classes and moving up the academic ladder. I set a goal for myself of making the rank of full professor by age 40. When I made full professor at age 38, I asked myself “Now what?”
Fate intervened to answer my question; I was asked to take time from my teaching to start up a program ICC developed for students intending to transfer to a 4-year school after completing their associate’s degree. This was my first taste of administration and I enjoyed it immensely.
There is a special challenge involved in a start-up and when the QUEST program was up and running I was asked by Dr. Perley to start the Adult Reentry Program. I stayed with that program for several years.
When did your receive your Ph.D? What was the topic of your dissertation? What is your basic philosophy of higher education?
I enjoyed the role of administrator, but knew I needed a doctorate to eventually get ahead, so in 1990 I joined a weekend doctoral program offered by Northern Illinois University called Leadership in Community College Administration; it was one of the wisest decisions I ever made.
I went to school with a diverse group of people and learned a great deal about leadership.
I graduated in 1994 and wrote my dissertation about women’s leadership styles, and interviewed a number of women community college presidents from all over the United States.
It was a natural extension of my interest in women’s issues, an interest I have followed in my professional life and my volunteer work in the community.
My basic philosophy of higher education has always focused on its astonishing power to transform: transform thoughts, attitudes, and ultimately, lives.
When I worked in the Adult Reentry off at ICC, I often saw women in difficult circumstances: single mothers, sometimes on welfare, coming out of painful or even abusive relationships, who were scared to death of returning to school after many years, but knew education was the only path to a better life for themselves and their children.
They became my heroes and were among the bravest people I ever had the privilege to meet, overcoming gigantic obstacles to fulfill their dream. I think I cried at every ICC graduation I attended.
Before accepting this position, you were employed by ICC. Tell us about your career path prior to becoming the executive director of the RiverTech Center.
In 1995, I became the director of the Professional Development Institute at Illinois Central College, which focuses on non-credit professional classes and seminars for the business community.
Most of the business training at the PDI was in the area of computer applications, so I became knowledgeable about computer training and the technology needs of local businesses.
Because of my position at the college I had been involved in some Technology Center committees, and I was excited by the vision of the Tech Center: a place that not only could merely transform individuals or businesses, but the entire community.
So after 25 wonderful years at the college, I applied to be executive director of what is now called the RiverTech Center and got the job.
Since I was a tenured professor at Illinois Central College and not far from retirement, I was taking a risk in coming to the Tech Center, but that is a testament to my passion for, and belief in, this endeavor.
The possibility of starting not just a program, but an entire organization was too tempting to pass up. It is a challenge getting the RiverTech Center started, but it is the most exciting and exhilarating thing I have ever done in by life—a kind of professional bungee jumping,
What was the original vision for the Technology Center, and how has that vision been altered during the design and construction process? Why? Is that good or bad?
The original vision of the Tech Center had been refined and fleshed out, but not really altered since its original inception.
The goal of the RiverTech Center is really economic development—for individuals, for businesses and for the entire community.
The concept of the center was generated by the business community voicing their need for highly trained technology workers who are difficult to attract to Peoria and difficult to retain. At the other end of the spectrum, however, was a need for entry level workers with a basic computer literacy. The future growth of any area business is dependent on its ability to get new skilled employees.
Additionally, the disparity between the haves and the have-nots in this country is worsening.
A 1998 study conducted by New York University showed that 85 percent of the financial wealth is now held by the richest 10 percent of the population.
It’s clear that the way out of poverty is suitable employment—and virtually all meaningful employment will require computer knowledge.
Unless access to, and training in, technology is provided soon to those groups traditionally under-served, the income gap will simply become exacerbated.
The original vision also sought to leverage the resources of the Private Industry Council’s One Stop Career Center will be one floor above the RiverTech Center in the new building at One Technology Plaza.
There will now be a seamless path for job-seekers to follow—from skills assessment and resume writing, through computer training and finally job placement.
Why do you feel such a center was needed in Peoria? Have you had any difficulty in explaining the concept to the community?
No doubt there is a need in Peoria, as well as in most cities in the United States for more skilled IT workers.
The RiverTech Center will not try to compete directly with the offerings of Illinois Central College and Bradley University—since they are partners in the Center—rather we intend to go into markets which are presently being filled by out-of-town training companies.
It’s not uncommon for local businesses to send employees to Champaign or Springfield, or even Chicago or St. Louis for high-end computer training.
We hope to reverse the flow and have the RiverTech Center become a place where people come from out-of-town to get training.
We will be price competitive, of course—we have to be or we won’t have any customers.
As for the community outreach mission of the Tech Center, certain services will be free or very inexpensive—such as our open access lab, which will have extended and weekend hours—for the public to come in and use the equipment to check their e-mail, or write a letter, or find information on the Internet.
We will seek grant dollars to help with our programs for the under-served, and also channel the revenue from corporate training into these programs.
One of the most appealing aspects of the entire concept behind the RiverTech Center is the fact that when an employer does business with us and pays for an employee to receive training—in SQL or Cobol or whatever—that business is really getting more bang for its buck.
In the short run, the company is getting an employee with a newly acquired skill.
More importantly, however, the money we make from such a training will also give a company a long-term return on their training dollars.
We might reinvest those dollars to teach technology to a resident at Warner homes who may be entering the job market for the first time, or in a high school student eager to learn a programming language in a summer program.
For example, under the leadership of Dr. Sharon Murphy and the cooperation of the Urban League, a program called Bytemasters was started with a small grant from the Neighborhood Empowerment Project. We took high school students and used them as teaching assistants in a computer class for 4th and 5th graders.
When the 12-hour class was finished, the “Bytemasters” spent 100 hours doing community service at small neighborhood computer labs, so they could earn a recycled computer (courtesy of Caterpillar) of their own. What’s exciting is that these are kids who have virtually no chance of getting their own computer any other way.
We will take our revenue from the corporate training and services and invest those dollars back in this community.
We will partner with as many groups as we can—nonprofits, educational institutions, and corporations—so that everyone in the community will benefit from the RiverTech Center, regardless of whether they ever set foot in our facility or not.
How does the downtown location enhance its appeal?
I think the location of One Technology Plaza as part of the riverfront development is ideal; there is a general spirit of action and energy downtown that is almost palpable.
It’s also close to many corporations and businesses who will be our customers, as well as being on bus routes that will be helpful to many people who will depend on public transportation to reach us.
In addition, our proximity to the Civic Center means the Tech Center could be attractive to outside groups using the Civic Center for trade shows, etc.
We will have conferencing and computer lab facilities available for rent, also.
Will any tax dollars be used in the construction, operation, or staffing of the center?
No tax dollars are involved in the RiverTech Center. I hope we will soon begin receiving grant dollars from the federal government and state government, however.
What will be the main benefit to the community? Ten years from now, how will the Tech Center have changed Peoria?
The main benefit to this community will be economic growth at every level: individuals who develop job skills which would allow them a good job or better paying job; entrepreneurs, and small and medium size businesses who will learn how to use technology to increase their bottom line; major corporations who will be more competitive thanks to a highly trained work force; the community which will benefit from the expansion of existing businesses and attracting new businesses who know they will find a skilled workforce if they relocate.
Ten years from now, Peoria will not only be more prosperous, but will have developed a reputation as a high-tech community, a place to go for technical expertise because of RiverTech Center.
What is the most common misconception about the TechCenter?
That the RiverTech Center controls the building is the most common misconception in the community. We are simply tenants. Up until recently, when we finally took the name RiverTech Center, the term “tech center” was used interchangeably to refer to the whole building as well as for the nonprofit training organization. The building at One Technology Plaza is a for-profit development of Cullinan Construction and Clark Engineering.
The RiverTech Center is not-for-profit organization and we will occupy 11,000 square feet on the ground level of the building; the One Stop Career Center will be on the floor above us.
Have the computer consultants and technical experts been hired? How many will initially be on staff?
In regard to staffing, I have an administrative assistant and three directors who report to me: community outreach; technical training; and technical services.
Any additional hires, such as lab monitors or receptionists, will be part-time staff. Computer instructors and consultants are typically paid as contract employees on a per day basis.
What is the expected opening date and are there grand opening activities planned?
In a new construction, it’s always difficult to predict an exact move-in date, but we are hoping to get in the building in May and be open for business by early June.
What has surprised you the most since becoming executive director?
I think the biggest surprise I have experienced in the community is how much enthusiasm for the project there is.
We staffed a booth at the Channel 25 Cybershow in February, and I was thrilled at how many people stopped in to ask if we would be using volunteers.
I am guessing, too, that these people were folks who don’t fit the traditional pattern of volunteers, but have been touched by something in the vision of bringing technology to new populations.
Fitting out and starting up a technology training center is an expensive proposition, however, so I am also hoping to enlist the aid of corporate Peoria in helping us get started, either through in-kind donations or cash contributions. The entire community needs to get behind this project in order to make it succeed.
Since I was involved with the planning of the Tech Center, I was cognizant of the challenges inherent in such an undertaking—start-ups always come with some degree of risk.
But RiverTech is the right idea at the right time, and will help put Peoria on the map of the information superhighway. It is a privilege to be part of it. TPW