January 28, 2000

Need grows for basic computer proficiency skills

BOULDER — Every job requires some repetitive action. And every recurrent task can be simplified. Especially today, when nearly every part of a business ties into an increasingly complex computer system, training translates into gains.
So says Russell Stamets of Computer Productivity Center, also known as Computer Training Source, located behind Red Robin Burgers and Spirits Emporium at Arapahoe Avenue and 28th Street.
The former accounting manager has trained Boulder residents to use software applications since 1993. And despite the fact that he owns and operates the two-classroom facility virtually single-handedly, Stamets has thrived where several large computer training companies have struggled to survive.
“With as little marketing as I do, it’s amazing,” Stamets said. “Maybe it’s a case of Boulder loyalty. I don’t know.”
Speaking with a sampling of his 90 percent corporate client base, it’s not hard to pinpoint the key characteristics of Stamets’ business. From sports-gear producers Pearl Izumi and Kelty Packs to high-tech companies U S West and Rogue Wave Software, customers cite Computer Productivity Center’s knowledgeable, personable instructor and helpful, practical curriculum.
“It’s convenient to get to, and it’s small,´ said Prudy Beal, human resources manager for Blue Mountain Arts. “You get a lot of personal attention.”
Beal said the paper-products company sends about 20 people per year to Stamets for computer training.
“And once you’ve gone through a class, you can call back and they’ll help walk you through almost any computer problem you’re having,” she added.
Brain Telfer, production supervisor of Sunrise Medical Products, said his company similarly sends at least 20 people per year to the center. “We send people for basic computer skills and Excel,” he said. “and they always come back with the knowledge they need.”
Stamets said he mostly services companies in the 50 to 500 employee range — from every market.
“I even get software engineering companies, which is kind of funny when you think about it,” he said. “But they’re regular offices like any other.”
Stamets said he has conducted more than 1,800 hands-on classes at his facility in the past seven years. The one-day courses typically last five to six hours, include eight to 10 participants and cost between $139 and $159. Corporate discounts and coupons help offset training costs.
He stressed that his computer classes focus on the practical, not “all the bells and whistles.”
“(Company’s) don’t always know it, but it’s the basic Windows skills that will translate into more efficiency,” he said. “It’s not all a function of the previously undiscovered features of the program that will provide the gain. It has to do more with a tool belt of time savers. The seconds add up to productivity.”
Stamets said two of the most common and important skills he teaches are how to use links and clipboards — techniques shared between many programs.
As far as trends, the instructor said he has seen an upsurge in the use of the presentation program PowerPoint and the spreadsheet program Excel in the past few years.
“In the past, PowerPoint was primarily a sales tool used during visiting presentations. Now you see it used all the time in inner-office meetings and stuff,” he said. “But Excel without a doubt is the biggest program. Everyone has some kind of accounting, manufacturing or tracking data that they use Excel for.”
Stamets said that lately he also has received an abundance of trouble-shooting calls and consulting jobs from companies threatened by “spreadsheets from hell.”
“It gets to a point where Excel tracking becomes impossible to maintain,” he said.
Although he is a firm believer that a grounding in spreadsheet programs can get one far, “then there’s pulling it together — stepping back and seeing the big picture and how things interact.” That’s why he offers advanced classes, private sessions and independent consulting. He currently spends a few mornings or afternoons each week helping companies locate problems and streamline or redesign their spreadsheets.
Other programs that Stamets teaches, such as Access, can be “molded like lumps of clay” to form singular systems.
“However, it’s harder to bite off the whole theory of such programs,” he said. “Most people who beat up on Microsoft have no idea what the programs can really do. Mr. Bill (Gates) isn’t crazy. There is a system. You just have to learn it.”
With an ever-increasing number of companies putting their own spin on intranets, Web sites and stylized computer systems, Stamets sees more of a need for proficiency in basic computer skills than ever before.
“In job descriptions, skill with computers is a given. Word has been understood for years, and Excel is almost an understood,” he said. “It costs time and money, but the benefits of a six-hour class can be measured.”
Computer Productivity Center student Tom Quigley wholeheartedly agreed.
“The things I learned in one (Word II class) made the difference in my job interview,” he said. “Without that training, I wouldn’t be the happily employed person I am today.”

BOULDER — Every job requires some repetitive action. And every recurrent task can be simplified. Especially today, when nearly every part of a business ties into an increasingly complex computer system, training translates into gains.
So says Russell Stamets of Computer Productivity Center, also known as Computer Training Source, located behind Red Robin Burgers and Spirits Emporium at Arapahoe Avenue and 28th Street.
The former accounting manager has trained Boulder residents to use software applications since 1993. And despite the fact that he owns and operates the two-classroom facility virtually single-handedly, Stamets has thrived where several large computer…

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