Digital Workshop Center – 17 Years Later
“The thing that gets me up and out of bed to come to work every day is knowing that we make a difference in our community. Not only locally, but across the U.S. and beyond with our online programs. And, the fuel that keeps me going is when we get feedback from our students that they found a new job, can better support their family, or advance their career. I am always so humbled and honored that we could be a part of that journey for students and help them improve their situation. Maybe I say it every year, but it is always worth repeating…I am so thankful for the incredible staff that surrounds me and props me up every day. I just can’t say ‘thank you’ enough to everyone who has made the past 17 years a reality and who helps us keep it moving forward.“
Stu Crair, Director & Founder
Digital Workshop Center
Celebrating 17 Years of Digital Workshop Center
This summer, June 2023, Digital Workshop Center celebrates their 17th year operating as an occupational school in Old Town Fort Collins in Northern Colorado. Digital Workshop Center has served Northern Colorado and across 11 other states offering a high quality alternative to traditional education since starting out of Criar’s home office in 2006. Since then, we have become a buzzing source of energy in Old Town Fort Collins. Over the years, we have moved three different times, expanded into a coworking space for local businesses, and transformed our programs to be fully online so we can reach across state lines, changing the lives of more people.
Reaching more people means becoming more accessible to those who need us. As noted by Crair, “This past year, we partnered with Climb Credit to be able to offer better, student-friendly payment plan options that have become very popular and we expect that to continue to grow into next year as well. And, several Veterans education benefit programs have helped us enroll more students as well. For this upcoming year, we will be doing more outreach to Workforce Center counselors to inform them of our programs and track record of success. And we will continue to build awareness in the general public about how we can help individuals gain skills and re-skill, upskill, or add new skills to advance their career.“
The last year has been wild and has energized us to look ahead with excitement of the coming challenges and successes!
Sticking to our mission of empowering you with skills, not degrees.
A lot has changed over the years but the core of who we are hasn’t. Our mission is to empower you with skills, not degrees so that you are able to thrive in a fast evolving working world and gain valuable, high-demand job skills to add to your resume. By way of this, we are committed to uphold the following values in all of our certificate programs:
- Inclusive Classroom Environment: From professionals to entrepreneurs to anyone feeling marginalized by technology, we are committed to fostering a positive educational experience for our students so they may learn to achieve success in their career.
- Relevant Experience: We are entrusted to deliver real-world skills that are relevant and meaningful to the workforce, increase efficiency, and build intuition.
- Mentorship: We offer small class sizes to work with your instructor closely as a mentor and build your portfolio.
- The Human Element: We bring the human element to the modern online classroom with hands-on skills programs delivered through 100% live instruction in a bootcamp style.
- Mutual Respect: We believe that we have the responsibility to provide a student-first environment, equally respectful to all, and guided by the highest ethical and professional standards.
- Community Minded: We value a welcoming community for students and alumni that is approachable, inclusive and created with the purpose of empowering you to learn, work, and grow.
Digital Workshop Center moving forward with gratitude.
Digital Workshop Center is built on the base of our people and without our staff, instructors, and students, we wouldn’t be where we are now. When asked about our group of instructors, Stu said “There is nothing better than learning from the experts who do this work every day for a living, and our instructor pool is made of true experts in their fields. Our instructors do an incredible job of preparing our students for the real-world challenges that may lie ahead. They bring their own unique expertise and academic creative freedom to the classroom and I think that adds such an incredible perspective to our programs.”
The staff in our front office are what makes DWC runs as smoothly as it does and without them As Stu has made clear, “The heart and soul of Digital Workshop Center lives with Ally, Liz, and Savannah. Every day, I am so appreciative of all of their hard work with our students from pre-enrollment to alumni and I see the positive feedback they all receive from our students. In the end, I think that is what has kept us going for 17 years. We don’t treat our students as a number like a larger university. But, instead, we offer friendly customer service and student support to everyone who is interested, enrolled, or has graduated.“
After 9 years with DWC, Liz has stepped away to advance her career with a new opportunity. We would be remiss if we did not acknowledge how much she has poured into DWC, our students, and the wider community for so many years. “While we will miss her dearly, we are all so happy for her to continue to grow in her professional life and thank her for all that she did,” stated Stu in a recent interview.
Digital Workshop Center looks ahead with a cup full of gratitude. We are excited for what’s to come and we are eager to continue to offer the best alternative to your educational needs! We look forward to empowering more students with skills, not degrees the next 17 years. Learn more about the certificate programs we offer through our website and attend an info session to speak with a student advisor.