The Queens Economic Development Corporation is ready to offer its highly successful Home Improvement Contractor Training course online three times over the next three months. It’s free and available in English and Spanish.
LaGuardia Community College Procurement Technical Assistance Center Director Edgar Hernandez, who has been teaching HICT for more than 11 years, will lead the workshops. He’ll cover all aspects of running a small construction business in New York City (i.e. laws, employee rights, contracts, advertising, general industry knowledge). A main goal is to prepare attendees, so they pass the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs licensing exam.
The first English-language HICT is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 2, and Sunday, Nov. 3. Then a Spanish-language version will take place on Saturday, Dec. 7, and Sunday, Dec. 8. Finally, another English course is set for Saturday, Jan. 11, and Sunday, Jan. 12. (Hernandez is bilingual.)
All classes run from 9 am to 2 pm with 30-minute breaks at noon.
Each registration deadline is two days before the course is scheduled to begin. For more information, click here or call 718.263.0546.
Contractors who are currently operating without a license and individuals who want to start a contracting business in New York City are HICT’s biggest target groups. The lessons are accompanied by one-on-one business advisory services, such as consultations on permits and licensing, business development, procurement, and access to capital.
QEDC offered the first HICT in January 2012, and all the participants went on to pass the DCA exam and obtain licenses to work legally as home-improvement contractors.
Established in 1977, QEDC has assisted thousands of entrepreneurs in preparing business plans and filing for business registrations, permits, licenses and loan packaging. QEDC has also helped scores of neighborhoods revitalize their commercial districts by creating business organizations and establishing business improvement districts.
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