A fast-growing company needs a way to ensure that they have a consistent, companywide training program for its employees. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, looking to add jobs at its Forks of the River Industrial Park in East Knox County, is one such company.

In conjunction with Pellissippi State Community College, Global Corporate College and the Tennessee Career Center, Green Mountain is providing a career training program that prepares potential employees to work for Green Mountain.

Teri Brahams, executive director of business and community services at Pellissippi State, said Green Mountain "wanted to make sure that companies with a global footprint could be guaranteed training that would be consistent across the board nationally."

"The company's growing so rapidly, they were looking for a way to ensure that they could have a ready workforce," Brahams added.

After a prescreening interview at the Career Center, 15 candidates are selected for a 36-hour, four-week program covering several areas of professional development.

Pellissippi State provides instruction created by Global Corporate College based on the demands of Green Mountain.

The program is divided into three sections: the first teaches professional behavior and informs the group of the company's core ideals. The second teaches computer skills and the third applies other useful skills, such as reading for and locating information, and applied math, according to a press release.

Sharon Davis, a graduate of the initial group and newly hired Green Mountain employee, said the skills she learned were the difference.

"For people like me, who knew little about the computer," she said, "it helped me learn more about my computer, and it helped inform me about Green Mountain."

Seven graduates from Davis' group are employed by Green Mountain.

"It's a green company, and we want all our employees to understand the company's green goals," Jocelyn Smith of the Tennessee Career Center said. "We choose our candidates based on whether they'll be a good fit or not."

People who go through the program aren't guaranteed a job, but are guaranteed an interview with the company, Smith said. Stacy Lang, human resources manager at Green Mountain, said the Knoxville plant currently has 273 employees and anticipates more than 400 by the end of September. Lang added it's a leg up to have completed the program.

"It weighs heavily during the interview," She said. "Someone will have demonstrated to us some of the academic skills needed, the profession and computer skills needed."

Lang added that graduates usually get a face to face interview within two weeks of finishing the program.

The program is based on a similar one Green Mountain created for a community college in Vermont, where the company is based.