Meet the Team
The Business Training Center is an integral part of Community Advancement - the "umbrella organization" within El Camino College for departments and programs providing economic development services to the community. We provide these services to businesses and industry as well as internships for students, continuing education classes for individuals seeking personal and professional development, and career education that provides students credit for on-the-job training.
We invite you to read about our team and contact them with any questions you may have.
Jose Anaya Dean, Community Advancement & Business Training Center
Oversees the El Camino Community College District's Community Advancement Division and Business Training Center. Prior to joining the staff at El Camino College, he directed economic development programs at Cerritos College. Under Anaya's guidance, Cerritos College received numerous honors and recognition related to workforce development. These included a Best Practices award for its partnership with Lockheed Martin, and selection by the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce and its partners as one of five national exemplary models for expanding postsecondary education and training opportunities for Hispanic workers. Mr. Anaya's earlier experiences include work in the private sector with corporations such as Honeywell, ITT Industries and DataCard. He has broad experience and expertise in the areas of product design, manufacturing and management, as well as economic and workforce development. Mr. Anaya has a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from California Polytechnics University, Pomona, and a MBA with an emphasis in entrepreneurship from the University of Southern California.
Star Van Buren Director, Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
Ms. Van Buren has worked for El Camino College since 2005. She was hired as a marketing consultant for the El Camino College Business Training Center (BTC)/Small Business Development Center (SBDC) where she planned and coordinated SBDC workshops and special events, marketed SBDC services to the community, and counseled small business owners on effective marketing techniques. She was promoted to the director of marketing and outreach for the BTC in 2006. Her responsibilities included marketing the services of all the BTC programs including the Small Business Development Center, the Center for Applied Competitive Technologies, the Center for International Trade Development, the Workplace Learning Resource Center, and Contract/Community Education. She was hired as the SBDC director in December 2008.
Ms. Van Buren's began her profession in the financial services industry specializing in marketing. During her 15-year career which culminated as a vice president of marketing/chief operations officer, Ms. Van Buren won numerous industry awards for the development and implementation of effective marketing campaigns. She also is an experienced small business owner. She and her husband opened a tax and accounting practice in 2004 which now serves 1500 clients.
Ms. Van Buren earned her doctorate in educational leadership with an emphasis in educational psychology from the University of Southern California, an MBA from the University of Redlands, and a B.A. in communications from California State University Dominguez Hills.
Eldon R. Davidson Director, Contract Education
Eldon has more than 20 years of experience in workforce & economic development; career and technical education; contract training; and building key alliances and partnerships with businesses, state/federal agencies, and colleges. As director of CCT, he oversees and coordinates the development and delivery of training programs targeted to assist local and regional employers respond to changing markets, emerging technology, and the skill development needs of their employees in order to remain competitive in a global economy.
From a regional and state perspective, Eldon was instrumental in leading the effort for the creation, leadership, development, and implementation of a statewide network of California Employment Training Panel (ETP) colleges dedicated to providing higher levels of service to employers located throughout the state enabling to achieve higher levels of productivity, maximize their earnings, and remain strong in California through college regional collaboration. After a proven track record of success, the CCETPC is now rebranding itself into the California Community College Contract Education Collaborative (CCCCEC), with more than 30 colleges that have shown interest in expanding contract education to better serve businesses across the state through sharing resources, curriculum development, best practices, and by providing innovation and responsiveness in developing new delivery methods and services.
ECC’s Center for Customized Training and director Eldon Davidson were the recipients of the 2018 California Community Colleges Doing What Matters Contract Education Star Performer Leadership Award at the California Community College Contract Education May 2nd Summit for practicing the highest level of leadership and collaboration concerning economic development, contract education and serving the needs of industry and trainees through the development of CCETPC. After a proven track record of success, the CCETPC is now rebranding itself into the California Community College Contract Education Collaborative (CCCCEC), with more than 30 colleges that have shown interest in expanding contract education to better serve businesses across the state through sharing resources, curriculum development, best practices, and by providing innovation and responsiveness in developing new delivery methods and services. Additional information about the collaborative can be found on the Doing What Matters for Jobs and the Economy web-site at http://doingwhatmatters.cccco.edu/ForWEDDGrantees/ContractEducation/EmploymentTrainingPanel.aspx .
Today, El Camino College – Business Training Center is recognized as a statewide leader in providing advanced customized training solutions to the aerospace, manufacturing, and alternative and renewable fuel and vehicle technology business sectors. It is also is one of the largest college providers of ETP-funded programs within California.
Betty Sedor Program Director, Community Education
Betty L. Sedor oversees the Community Education department at the El Camino College campus [Torrance, CA]. Ms. Sedor is responsible for developing and implementing short-term, not-for-credit classes, workshops, career-training programs, and events designed for professional and personal development with an emphasis on inspiring a sense of wonder and imagination for life-long learning. Her specialized programs are expressly designed for the entire community and include classes and events for adults, plus 50 adults (Young@Heart program), foster care and kinship caregivers (FKCE, CSEC, RFA), and kids grades 1-12 (the Kid’s College program). Ms. Sedor has more than eleven years of experience managing the three-time award-winning department; the recipient of the 2013, 2015, and 2018 "Best Practice" award(s) from the Association of Community and Continuing Education for creating exemplary community programs that support dynamic, innovative, high-quality, not-for-credit learning experiences.
Ms. Sedor was formerly the Director of Business Development for the Public Programs & Exhibitions department at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, an adjunct English instructor at Mt. San Antonio College and a former advertising sales executive for such media entities as Hispanic Magazine, Su Bebe y Su Familia magazines, Univision television, and Terra.com. She earned a Master’s Degree in English from Loyola Marymount University as well as a Bachelor’s from Manhattanville College in New York.