PARTNERS IN THE NEW ECONOMY
Macomb Community College was named 2013 Economic Development Partner of the Year by the Macomb County Department of Planning and Economic Development, which presented its first-ever Macomb Business Awards Feb. 12 at the Sterling Inn Banquet and Conference Center.
The College was honored for providing entrepreneurial training programs that help new businesses get started and for its collaboration with the county to identify and develop workforce training programs that strengthen local industry. Accepting the award on behalf of the College was Jim Jacobs, College president, shown here with Mark Hackel, Macomb County executive. Other companies and organizations receiving awards were General Dynamics Land Systems, Omega Plastics, Fori Automation and the Electrical Industry Training Center. Photo courtesy of St. Clair Shores Patch.
HELPING PATIENTS BREATHE EASIER
After graduating from Macomb’s Respiratory Therapy Program in 1980, Rick Zahodnic, who is now a professor in the program and its clinical coordinator, worked in hospitals, including nine years at Providence and five at Bon Secours. “We’re the best kept secret in health care,” he offers. “Most people don’t realize that in an operating room there’s a doctor, a nurse and a respiratory therapist.” As he was shifting from practitioner to professor, Zahodnic earned a Ph.D. in instructional technology and now videotapes every lecture and lab so his students can practice techniques over and over again. “When you’ve made a patient breathe easier,” offers Zahodnic, “you know you have made a difference.”