At Continuing Education and Workforce Training (CEWT), we use instructors with specific work experience in the field. Having experienced instructors provides current industry practices that inform students more fully. Faces of CEWT highlights some of our finest instructors and staff to give you insight into the ‘sweet’ people who work here.

Claudia Allen is the admirable type of person who can do it all and somehow manage to find time to do even more. As a Business Consultant for the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and an instructor for CEWT, she is heavily involved with the local businesses in our community.

For CEWT, Allen teaches two classes, Quickbooks Basics and Intermediate. “Quickbooks is a software accounting program, to me it’s the best one in the world. Quickbooks does all the accounting for small businesses and big businesses. It takes care of your checking account, all your income, [and] all your expenses,” Allen explained.

Claudia Allen makes her classes both informative and fun. In her Quickbooks classes, her students make up a business so they can learn the ins-and-outs of the program and apply them to their own businesses.

The best part of teaching for Allen is helping new business owners learn how to develop their businesses. She is constantly learning from her students, which makes the classes that much more rewarding. “I love when I can learn new things, too, and also, a lot of them become my clients [as a business consultant]”, Allen said.

As a Business Consultant, Allen helps new or existing business owners grow and expand their businesses. “This is what I always tell my clients the first time I meet them: I will do anything to help you except wash your windows,” Allen said.

She helps with anything a business owner might need, making sure they take the right steps and avoid possible pitfalls down the road.

Even better, the SBDC services are completely free. “We can never charge any of our clients, we can’t even accept a cup of coffee from our clients,” Allen said.

In her free time, Allen manages to stay busy by helping in the community. She is involved with the Bannock County Civitan Club and The Twisted Stitchers Citivan Club.

“Our main focus [is] people with disabilities. A lot of people know us because we are the ones that put on ‘Revive at Five’ every Wednesday night,” Allen said. “I am also involved with My Brother’s Table. We feed the needy every week. On Sunday, we prepare a big meal for anywhere from 70 to 100 people.”

Allen doesn’t just stop there. She is also a Pocatello Chief, which is a branch of the Chamber of Commerce. Every year, certain leaders in the community are picked and once picked, are a chief for a year. “I attend all the ribbon cuttings for new businesses, which is great because it goes into what I do for a living,” Allen said.

And if that isn’t enough, “I am also very involved with my 5 grandchildren,” Allen laughed.

“Claudia is an exceptional teacher who truly enjoys her students and makes the classroom a great experience,” said CEWT’s director, Gary Salazar. “Her students enjoy what they learn and praise how Claudia works with them. We are favored with so many great teachers here, and Claudia is one of our best.”

If interested in signing up for Quickbooks courses, visit cetrain.isu.edu to check out our catalog or call us at (208) 282-3372.