Uncle Barry Hoskins gave a Welcome to Country and Member for Coffs Harbour Gurmesh Singh cut the ribbon to officially open the training facility.

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Adding to the occasion was the belated celebration of the business’ tenth birthday.

NV College began in Macksville in 2013, specialising in training targeting the aged care industry.

Since then, the college has continued to grow and innovate, providing training and development for those wanting a career or to upskill in the areas of aged care, home and community care, disability care, hospitality, or business and leadership.

NVC Group’s Henny Oldenhove spoke about the humble beginnings of NVC almost 50 years ago as a provider of aged care staff based in Macksville.

The decision was made ten years ago to create a Registered Training Organisation (RTO).

“[It was] designed to make sure we could train the workforce we were supplying to support aged care,” said Henny.

“Over that ten years NVC has grown to opening an office in Coffs and now a college in Coffs.

“It is the strength of the workforce that is the strength of any organisation.

“Their capabilities and capacity to deliver quality aged care support is absolutely critical to us as an organisation,” she said.

NV College RTO Manager Enrico Fabian told News Of The Area the courses are heavily subsidised to encourage people into the aged care industry.

“There’s not enough staff to cover the growing aged care industry.

“Our college is a specialist in care, it’s what we do best.”

The key product from NV College, said Enrico, is the Certificate III in Individual Support.

Student Mitch told the story of his journey with NV College at the opening.

After a complete change in his personal circumstances, he found himself a new arrival living in Nambucca.

As a mature-aged man, Mitch said he was navigating significant hurdles to re-entering the workforce.

A serendipitous meeting led him to learn more about career opportunities in caring roles.

“[There is] an area of need, it’s government funded and subsidised to acquire the training and there were incentives for learners,” he said.

After a conversation with Enrico, it was agreed Mitch would enrol for the Cert III Individual Support qualification.

As a student of trainer Jacqui Boaden’s, he was “off to a flying start”.

Mitch soon took on a traineeship which resulted in his full time employment in the home and community sector under the guidance of NVC’s Jackie Wills.

Through ongoing mentorship, he’s “still growing”, he said.

Member for Coffs Harbour Gurmesh Singh, addressing the launch gathering, spoke of the “huge skills shortage” on the Mid North Coast.

“We have an ageing population here, with plenty of people looking at the next ten or twenty years and thinking about the kind of care they might be requiring,” Mr Singh said.

“Our hospitality sector is also crying out for skilled and trained workers.

“This college fills an important need in our community as well as being great for Coffs Harbour from an economic point of view.”

NVC Group has been successfully training international students from Fiji and Malaysia, an area it is continuing to grow.

By Andrea FERRARI