History of New Horizons of Minnesota
August 2008 - New Horizons of Minnesota was named winner of the Center Performance Mega Market Award for 2008 by New Horizons Computer Learning Centers, Inc. during the company’s International Conference held in Dallas. This award recognizes the leading center in the New Horizons network with the highest score in North America for its market size for criteria including the following: customer service scores, market penetration (measured as days of training per population) and revenue growth.
February 2008 - New Horizons of Minnesota won the Citrix “Most Strategic Education Partner of 2007” award in January at the Citrix Summit in Orlando, FL. This is the third year New Horizons of Minnesota has been recognized as a commendable partner by the Citrix community. This prestigious award is given to partners who have been instrumental throughout the year developing new and innovative delivery solutions for Citrix courses, keeping Citrix Education positioned at the forefront of technical education training. As a Citrix Authorized Learning Center, New Horizons of Minnesota has collaborated throughout the year with the Citrix Education team and provided input and technical expertise.
August 2007 - Kiplinger’s featured an article on how to "Boost Your Career with Professional Classes," that highlighted the success of a New Horizons of Minnesota student.
Melissa Maier started taking computer classes in 2005 to advance her graphic-design career. Maier, 33, completed 14 one– to –two day courses during a one-year period, including several on Photoshop, XML and Visual Basic.
And Maier did advance. In 2006, the chemical company she works for promoted her from an administrative assistant to a Web-content and graphic designer. She says the classes prepared her well for the new position. “I have a more technical job, so really mastering these programs has made work more exciting.”
March 2007 - New Horizons of Minnesota received the 2007 Microsoft Partner Briefing Award for Teamwork for the success of their Developer Code Camp hosted on November 11, 2006. The award was merited by the exemplary training and awareness solutions New Horizons of Minnesota has provided to the Minnesota developer community.
September 2006 - New Horizons Minnesota was chosen to receive an elite partner award from Novell with the special distinction of Linux Center of Excellence. Only 25 Authorized Centers, globally, will boast this credential. This special Authorized Training Partner designation was determined based on the year over year growth we realized in students trained on Linux as well as the Metrics That Matter(tm) evaluation scores for our instructors delivering Novell's authorized Linux courses. Novell indicated that our combined results indicate the highest level of customer satisfaction and growth for the Americas region.
August 2006 - New Horizons of Minnesota IT instructor Dan Villanti won the "Instructor of the Year 2006" award at the New Horizons International Conference on Saturday, August 19th. Dan was chosen as the #4 IT instructor out of more than 1,200 New Horizons tech instructors in the world. Eric Goodoien was also recognized at the conference as #2 IT Instructor in the world.
In addition, New Horizons of Minnesota General Manager Eric Garrison was awarded with a Circle of Excellence award on Saturday night for his contributions to the global New Horizons network. His countless hours of coaching, mentoring and teaching for other general managers, sales managers and account executives was recognized by Senior Vice President of Global Franchise Operations, Steve Delcarson.
June 2006 - New Horizons of Minnesota first introduces Electronic Profiler (EP) in the summer of 2006 and officially launches the tool by the end of the year. EP was designed with the center in mind to help their students more effectively profile their student needs and provide a more effective means for positioning an education solution.
August 2005 - New Horizons of Minnesota designs and implements CareerBooster. The skill assessment tool was designed with the student in mind to give them an opportunity to build personalized profiles relative to their career goals. From these profiles they were able to assess their skills to build a prescriptive learning plan.
July 2005 - New Horizons of Minnesota receives full Managers and Practitioners Certificates in IT Service Management accreditation. The Information Systems Examinations Board (ISEB) Accredited Education Center Status is a major achievement in the ITIL education world. The award is only given to educational providers who meet the highest standards as validated by course instructor qualifications, curriculum standards, facility requirements and success in providing a quality ITIL education program.
June 2005 - Microsoft awards New Horizons of Minnesota the Central Regional U.S. Partner Field Award for Teamwork. The award is the culmination of a year-long partner awards program that Microsoft implemented at the beginning of their fiscal year.
May 2005 - New Horizons of Minnesota receives an award for Partner Marketing at the Microsoft Channel Partner Summit in San Diego, California. The award was given to the Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for Learning Solutions that has shown excellence in the area of partner marketing. During the measured period, New Horizons of Minnesota trained the highest number of students in the Microsoft Hands on Lab campaigns.
August 2004 - Benchmark / New Horizons Learning changes its name to New Horizons Computer Learning Centers of Minnesota (New Horizons of Minnesota).
January 2004 Benchmark / New Horizons Learning formed by the merger of Benchmark Learning and New Horizons Computer Learning Centers of Minneapolis: merger creates one company, 4 Minneapolis area locations with over 30 classrooms and 80 plus employees.
2003 - New Horizons Computer Learning Centers was named "The World's Largest Independent Computer Training Company" by International Data Corporation
2003 - New Horizons receives the Highest Marks for Overall Student Satisfaction Compared to other Microsoft Certified Learning Solutions Partners.
2003 - New Horizons launches Web-based Integrated Learning Manager platform technology.
2003 - New Horizons wins a Gold Excellence in eLearning Award from Brandon-hall.com.
2002 & 2003 - Benchmark Learning named as the #1 Computer Training School in the Twin Cities by the Twin Cities Business Journal
2002 - Benchmark Learning begins a partnership with the local itSMF chapter and introduces ITIL to the area by offering ITIL overview seminars as well as Practitioner and Manager level classes and exams.
2001 - New Horizons introduces New Horizons Integrated Learning, a fully integrated approach to learning that includes Classroom Learning, Online LIVE Learning and Online ANYTIME Learning.
2001 - Benchmark Learning partners with the local Microsoft District Office to launch Dev Care, a one day a month event that highlights cutting edge developer technologies, taught by developers to developers.
2001 - Benchmark Learning sees the need to add a new line of business called SMART, Skills Measurement Assessment Resource Tool.
2001 - Benchmark Computer Learning acquires it’s largest competitor MindSharp Learning Centers, changes name to Benchmark Learning, doubles staff and adds a downtown location with 3 additional classrooms.
2001 - Benchmark Computer Learning becomes a Certified Citrix Learning Center (CALC) that allows our students and clients access to education offerings taught by certified instructors using authorized Citrix curriculum.
2000 - Benchmark Computer Learning partnered with Novell to provide Certified NetWare Administrator (CNA) scholarships to 2 Harding High School students in St. Paul. Both students attended classes with us and then both passed their certification exams to become CAN certified.
2000 - Benchmark Computer Learning becomes a founding member of United Training, a consortium of independent training centers offering consistent high quality education and customer service to organizations in over 50 cities nationwide.
2000 - Benchmark Computer Learning is named Microsoft’s North Central District Partner of the Year and becomes runner up for the CTEC of the Year award nationally.
1999 - Benchmark Computer Learning won the Professional Associate of Computer Trainers (PACT) award of Excellence and the Information Technology Training Association (ITTA) award of Excellence for a new program created to target high school sophomores and juniors with a desire to learn more about computers and to explore a career in the Information Technology (IT) industry. The training was an entry-level technical program that prepared students for A+ certification and real world employment.
1998 - New Horizons begins delivery of Web-based Training to its customers.
1998 - Benchmark Computer Learning adds another four classrooms for a total of 16 classrooms in Edina.
1997 - With continued growth, Benchmark Computer Learning expands once again by building another five classrooms and 50-person seating seminar room for a total of 12 classrooms in our Edina location.
1997 - Scott Schwefel brings on a partner, Phil Hinderaker whose previous experience includes serving as President/CEO and investor in DocuMed from 1994 to 1996 and was responsible for launching new software in the clinical record area. He also served as President and CEO of Dataserv from 1982 to 1994 and was responsible for growing and running a $140 million, 1400-person company with customer and employees in all 50 states.
1997 & 1998 – Benchmark Computer Learning is listed in the 50 Fastest Growing Private Companies, in City Business.
1995 - New Horizons of Minneapolis is founded by the Myhre family whose other local educational businesses include: Globe College, Minnesota School of Business, Duluth Business University, and the Institute of Production and Recording.
1995 - Benchmark Computer Learning becomes a Lotus Authorized Education Center (LAEC) by offering Lotus authorized curriculum and providing the highest quality authorized instructors able to teach certifications for the Developer and Administration tracks.
1995 - Scott Schwefel purchases the subdivision of Benchmark Network Systems from Benchmark Computer Systems and renamed the organization Benchmark Computer Learning reflecting the new direction as an education only entity. Scott started as the Sales Manager of Benchmark Computer Systems in 1991 before acquiring all the education assets in 1995.
1995 - Benchmark Network Systems is awarded Novell’s Premier NAEC status at its inception.
1994 - Benchmark Network Systems expands operations by moving into a larger facility with seven classrooms, doubling our previous classroom numbers.
1993 - Benchmark Network Systems becomes a subdivision of Benchmark Computer Learning with a focus on serving and educating customers on local area networks particularly utilizing Novell and Microsoft software products.
1992 - Benchmark Computer Systems becomes a Microsoft University.
1988 - Benchmark Computer Systems becomes a Novell Authorized Education Center.
1986 - Benchmark Computer Systems becomes the Midwest region’s first Novell local area network distributor.
1982 - New Horizons is founded; one-classroom facility opens in Laguna Hills, California.
1976 - Benchmark Computer Systems introduces first micro computer technology to the region.
1974 - Benchmark Computer Systems introduces first mini computers to the region.
1972 - Benchmark Computer Systems begins operation.