Bermuda College is set to answer the need for training among the Island's managers with the introduction of a four week course.

The American Management Association Management Course will be offered by the Training Development Service of the Paget institution, said Training Development Coordinator Leonard Santucci.

"It will offer training and development opportunities for people in management level positions.'' Course facilitators will be AMA approved professionals with international reputations as experts in their field of study. Each week will target a different area -- general management, finance, marketing and leadership.

The cost of the course will be $8,000 per participant, half what it would cost to send a person overseas for the course. The first unit of the course will be held in May with the others taking place in June, July and August.

"The goal of this co-operative partnership is for Bermuda to become an international location for the AMA,'' continued Rev. Santucci.

"It is our hope that as a result of this partnership, Bermuda will be listed as a management training and development site in all AMA publications.

"In response to these listings, professionals will travel to Bermuda from around the world to sharpen and refine their skills and knowledge. This will give people in local industry the chance to rub shoulders with people from across the world without leaving the Island.'' Between February 10 and 13, AMA's vice president for the Mid-Atlantic and Carolinas region, Dr. Marge Ianker, visited the Island and met a number of local company representatives in a bid to define the training and development needs of the community. This came about after the Training Development Service at the college recognised a deficiency in this area for people in management positions.

"Bermuda College is doing its part to address these training deficiencies in the Bermuda work force,'' pointed out Rev. Santucci. He added that the college had the ability to offer more training opportunities in other fields through similar overseas partnerships.

Admission to the programme is expected to be very competitive and each course will be limited to 20 participants.