Esprit Technologies Inc., a Spokane Valley-based training program provider, says it plans to move to larger quarters in the International Gateway Corporate Park to accommodate its growing operations, which include a new division named Teach English International.


Esprit will triple the 8,000 square feet of space it leases at 10102 E. Knox when it moves next month to a building just west of its current location in the park, says Janice Green, Esprits executive director.


Esprit has doubled its employment within the last year, now employs 24 people, and likely will hire additional employees after its move as it expands its programs further, Green says.


Were definitely in a growth mode, she says.


Earlier this year, Esprit started Teach English International, which provides training and certification in teaching spoken English, Green says. Esprit decided to launch Teach English International because theres a big demand for spoken-English instructors in non-English-speaking countries, particularly in Asia, Green says. That demand is going unmet, because few organizations on the West Coast offer short-term training programs in spoken English, she asserts.


Esprits program is only one week long so that students can get certified quickly before they travel on their business trips, she says.


So much of our business is going global, and people in foreign countries want to be able to communicate with English-speaking businesspeople, Green says.


Separately, Alpine College, a vocational-training school that Esprit started in 2005, plans to start phasing in several new programs this fall.


Those programs include medical-assisting professional, laboratory assistant, physician therapy assistant, and surgical technician, she says. The programs will range in duration from nine months to one year.


Due to increasing demand from employers requesting graduates with these skills, we made the decision to begin offering them, Green says.


Esprit, formerly Productivity Point of Spokane, continues to offer training in software products made by Microsoft and Novell. It also offers Cisco Systems training and wireless technology training and consulting.


Contact Emily Brandler at (509) 344-1265 or via e-mail at emilyb@spokanejournal.com.