Success Stories
Energy inspires new career for Matt Heflin
You might have a product of Matt Heflin’s creativity in your home—he used to develop inkjet printer technology at Hewlett Packard.
Soon he may appear in your home again, or maybe your business, this time as an energy auditor with a degree from Lane Community College.
Matt was laid off from HP in 2008 after 18 years. HP started outsourcing and reducing wages some years earlier. Matt held on but it wasn’t sustainable. “Eight years of job insecurity was enough,” says the former Monmouth resident.
Sustainability, in fact, was of growing importance to Matt. It was the measure by which he chose Eugene and Lane Community College to build a new life and future.
Both had a reputation for being green and Lane was the only college to offer degree programs in energy management and renewable energy.
He enrolled in the energy management program in summer 2010 and will earn his degree in six consecutive terms. He is carrying a 16-credit load.
It’s been 31 years since he was last in a classroom and he never went to college but instead of being daunted, he is energized.
The federal Trade Act provides unemployment and education funding and thanks to the energy management program’s six-term consecutive schedule, Matt will be able to complete school before funds run out.
“Everyone’s been helpful and welcoming,” he says of Lane. “No one is just here. Everyone goes out of their way to make sure I’m successful. The faculty are phenomenal. They’re jazzed, we’re jazzed. The job opportunities will be huge.”
Matt will graduate in fall 2011. Get ready. It may be your door he opens next.
Published by Lane Community College Marketing and Public Relations July 2010. For more information contact Joan Aschim, Public Information Officer, (541) 463-5591, aschimj@lanecc.edu
