About the Business & Industry Institute

The mission of the Business and Industry Institute (BII) is to provide information technology professionals and knowledge workers customized education and training programs developed in conjunction with our corporate partners, thereby increasing the area’s skilled workforce and strengthening the local economy.

The BII, through the Network Academy, deliveries hands-on, high quality training programs based on industry standards and requirements via the following:

• Associate of Applied Science degrees: Information Assurance, Linux Networking Administration, Networking Systems, and Networking Administration.
  
• Certificates of Completion: Cisco, Cyber Forensics, Information Assurance, Linux Networking Administration, Microsoft, Network Security, Novell, and Unix/Solaris.
  
• Industry certifications: Cisco, Java, Microsoft, Oracle, Security Certified Professionals, Solaris, Sun Microsystems, and Unix.

Our purpose is to be:

• Responsive and adaptable to current and emerging industry needs
• Dedicated to responsible student advisement
• Committed to supporting, encouraging, and mentoring students.

We fulfill our mission and purpose by providing:

• Certificate and degree programs
• Hand-on experiences that are applicable to the workplace
• Education for career advancement
• Accessible, affordable, and flexible programs
• Testing services for industry certifications and licenses

The Business and Industry Institute was developed during the 1980s to focus on the needs of local employers. In 1983, Motorola Inc. began to work extensively with Mesa Community College, and the Motorola Training and Education Center (MTEC) was created to provide the training and retention of Motorola’s employees in the Phoenix area.

As the MTEC grew, it became obvious that traditional methods of registration, scheduling, and course delivery were not well suited to students who were also corporate employees. These students needed courses that would be available virtually around the clock in order to match their shift schedules and asked for classes to be held at their place of employment. Many of the needed courses did not fit into the traditional 16-week semester format.

Motorola and Mesa Community College jointly created the Motorola Partnership to develop innovative solutions to these needs. The Partnership relocated to a training facility in the heart of downtown Mesa, away from the college campus. The rest of the Business and Industry Institute's operations were shortly moved to that site.

By the early 1990s, the relationship between Mesa Community College and Motorola had blossomed into Motorola University, which moved from downtown Mesa, leaving The Business and Industry Institute (BII) in that location.

Mesa Community College's experience with Motorola University led to a re-evaluation of its other training activities. Small local businesses were also in need of training, but could not afford to create a comparable partnership nor did they have the resources of a Motorola to create their own curriculum. Other entities, such as the Consortium for Supplier Training and Sun Microsystems, were looking for participants and/or partners in the area. These factors led to the continued expansion and refocusing of the BII, which became the workforce development and training arm of the college.

Creating and developing the BII has given Mesa Community College a unique perspective on the relationship of education to economic development. Because MCC's mission includes a commitment to serve its community including its business community, the college has had to approach the work it does with business in the same way it approaches the needs of individual, non-traditional students. In other words, the college has had to learn to assess the needs of businesses and their employees, develop learning plans that will help meet those needs, and provide the instruction and support services to fulfill those plans.