High-Tech College With Hollywood Bent Set to Launch
A new high-tech private technical college with an initial focus on skills for the movie industry has leased space in a Placentia business park for its main campus and plans to begin rolling out classes on the Internet within the next several weeks.
CyberTek College hopes to begin offering two-year associate-degree programs by summer in three main areas: Classical and computer animation; digital imaging technologies and computer-aided drafting and design. The college also is developing a curriculum for working executives and for people interested in taking short courses on various topics online, its organizers say.
CyberTek is going into business with about $500,000 in seed money from private investors. One of those, Tristar Diversified Ventures LLC in Costa Mesa, has taken a 25% share in the company.
Tristar’s former president, Greg Boretz, has joined the firm as its chief executive officer. He and Andy Shoemaker, CyberTek’s president, are trying to raise another $5 million in venture capital.
Buying Three Schools
Shoemaker says they have signed letters of intent to buy three private technical colleges in the area, and hope at least two of those deals will close within the next several months.
“We’ll take those programs and integrate them into our online learning curriculum,” he said. “What we plan to do is provide all of the same curriculum as other computer-oriented private colleges, but tie the bricks-and-mortar classroom in with the Internet.”
The college’s web site can be found at: www.CyberTekcollege.com
The initial two programs will be geared toward animation and design for digital as well as other types of movies. A partner in the company, according to Shoemaker and Boretz, is Hollywood movie producer Michael Dudek.
“We’ve developed some pretty good associations with Hollywood movie studios, which are in need of people trained to work with all of the computer graphics software and hardware specific to that industry,” said Shoemaker. “We’re going to be bringing in systems that cost $10,000 to $20,000 apiece so that students will have direct experience with the type of equipment studios are using.”
Working on Computer Deals
CyberTek is also working on deals to become a reseller and authorized training center for several different computer companies.
“We want to include a laptop with the price of admission for every student,” said Shoemaker. “The idea is to make available to students new technology, both inside and outside the classroom.”
With a base of existing private technical college campuses under its belt, CyberTek is aiming to start with about 1,000 students and build to more than 3,000.
“But that’s just counting students going to our bricks-and-mortar classes,” said Shoemaker. “For the Internet courses, who knows how many we can attract.”
CyberTek is gearing up to offer online classes described as two-hour mini-courses on topics ranging from how to use specific software packages to ways busy executives can manage their schedules.
In the future, the college plans to offer degrees online.
“We’ll have chat lines and tutorials, so students can discuss topics and study together online,” said Boretz. “If they miss a class, they can go back and check the online archives for a particular class.”
CyberTek is also working on developing Internet-related programs that would enable students to interact with instructors online during non-class hours, he added.
“The Internet is changing the way we study,” said Boretz. “We’re excited because the capability is there to do so much more integrating online education with traditional classroom training.”
Eventually, CyberTek’s founders want to develop an international curriculum that can be distributed over the Internet.
“Our concept is to become a college that not only services students locally but nationally and even in other countries,” said Boretz.
CyberTek has leased 10,480 square feet of office space in the Placentia Corporate Center at 711 Kimberly Ave. The five-year deal is valued at almost $1 million.
Brian Garbutt, senior associate with Lee & Associates in Newport Beach who helped broker the deal, said the new school is paying a starting rate of about $1.50 a square foot and will average around $1.60 a square foot over the life of the lease.
“That’s about the going market rate in that market,” he said. “It’s a good deal for a start-up.” Stacy Garcia of Lee & Associates also helped broker the deal. n
