Powerlist – Trevor Elordi – Vice President of Workforce Training and Continuing Education – College of Eastern Idaho

When Trevor Elordi, vice president of Workforce Training and Continuing Education at the College of Eastern Idaho, started the position, he had a big goal of bringing a police academy to Idaho Falls.

Wanting to give the local departments more options for officer training, he worked with College of Eastern Idaho president Rick Aman and other local legislators to obtain state funding to start this process.

“We received $100,000 in state appropriations to assist with the start-up of this program,” he said. “Our goal is to run our first academy class this fall with assistance from state and local officials.”

CEI provides training to different industries throughout eastern Idaho, overseeing apprenticeship programs in electrical, HVAC and plumbing. The staff also provides many of the safety training needs for Idaho National Laboratory and works closely with the regional health care industry to provide CNA certifications, CPR training and training for medication assistance.

Elordi has worked in local and state government for more than 20 years. He started his career in law enforcement in California where he served for more than a decade before being injured on the job. Forced into early retirement due to the injury, he returned to school to finish his bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Elordi started working for the Idaho Transportation Department and worked his way into the role of business operations manager. When the position came open at CEI, he felt he was a good fit due to his background.

“The work that we are doing with workforce development is really helping to shape the future of the workforce in Idaho,” he said. “We have an opportunity to train the next generation of employees, and to continue to upskill our current workforce.”