The Industrial Careers Pathway is gaining popularity with students as more colleges and universities get on board with the program.

The ICP was started by the Power Transmission Distributors Assn.'s PTDA Foundation to attract more young employees to careers in distribution.

Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario, and the Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn, Mich., have each seen enrollment increase in ICP-related courses recently.

In January, Mohawk College began its first in a series of courses aimed at teaching students the basics and fundamentals of industrial distribution. The college's Industrial Distribution Leadership Certificate Program (IDLCP) is a 180-hour certificate program consisting of six 30-hour courses.

The first course, “Business Fundamentals of Industrial Distribution,” was taught by Ted Chisholm, vice president of finance and IT for BDI Canada Inc. Mohawk plans to offer the course again in the spring.

Last fall, Henry Ford Community College launched “Introduction to Industrial Distribution,” which proved to be so popular that it will be offered again in the spring.

Two certificates are offered by Henry Ford CC: “Industrial Distribution–Business Concentration” provides students with the skills necessary to work in a customer service capacity in the industrial distribution industry. “Industrial Distribution–Technical Concentration” focuses on product specifications offering students training in sales, warehouse management and customer support.

Six other colleges across the United States and Canada are working towards offering similar introductory industrial distribution courses in the fall of '08.

In addition, ICP is preparing an online course to introduce students to the overall structure of the industrial distribution industry and expose them to the various business models that exist throughout the distribution-related industries.

For more information about ICP courses, visit www.idcareers.org.