It created a new training center focused specifically on sales.

Crain’s Cleveland Business reports.

Community college selling itself as business tool

Lorain County Community College in Elyria is adding to its suite of services directly supporting the local business community with a new training center focused specifically on sales.

The new Richard Desich Sales Institute — named after the founder of Equity Trust Co., a Westlake-based provider of self-directed IRAs — will offer hands-on sales training for new and existing sales professionals in the community. Pilots for the program begin this month, and renovations for a dedicated space are expected to take place over the summer.

The sales institute joins the college’s existing economic development programs like its business incubator — the Great Lakes Innovation and Development Enterprise — and the Innovation Fund Northeast Ohio, which financially backs entrepreneurs. However, the new center also addresses the college’s educational goals.