Meet Our Team

Jeff Gregor Headshot - Final

Jeff Gregor

Assistant Superintendent/
Vice President, Workforce and Economic Advancement

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Catherine Grooms

Executive Director
Small Business Development Center

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Diane Block

Administrative Assistant to Assistant Superintendent/
Vice President,
Workforce and Economic Advancement

Jocey Hogan

Client Relations Liaison, Employee Training Institute

Lynda DePerno

Coordinator, Center for Applied Competitive Technologies (CACT)

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Dorothy Clemena

Program Technician
Employee Training Institute

Interim Vice President, Workforce and Economic Advancement/Executive Director, ETI
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John Milburn is a native Californian who has lived and worked across the state. He has owned and operated several businesses and has been a training and development specialist for more than 13 years. John has a wide-ranging background in economic development having helped many organizations and thousands of employees with organization and professional development. He has more than 4,000 stand-up hours delivering training and facilitation services for private, public and nonprofit organizations. As Director of ETI, John develops and delivers training programs targeted to assist local employers respond to changing markets, technology and the skill development needs of their employees. John holds a Psychology MA in Organization Development from Sonoma State University and BA in Business Administration from California State University, Bakersfield.

Executive Director, Small Business Development Center

Catherine Grooms leads and manages the SBDC hosted by College of the Canyons, a team of 25, including 20 Professional Business Advisors providing services to entrepreneurs and business owners in the San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita Valley, Antelope Valley and Metro Los Angeles.  Working with thousands of small business owners and entrepreneurs, and her broad experience prior to joining the SBDC working with public and private companies both small and large on the East Coast, Midwest and in California including a variety of industries both domestic and international, helps clients positively impact the local economies.

Catherine has a BBA in Accounting from Howard University and an MBA (Accounting/Management Concentration) from the University of Baltimore. She is a graduate of the Leadership Development Program at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business Executive Education; and the Leadership Development Program at University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.

Coordinator, Center for Applied Competitive Technologies (CACT)

Lynda DePerno is the Coordinator for the Center for Applied Competitive Technologies (CACT) at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California. She supports several programs for the Economic and Workforce Development Department and Employee Training Institute. She oversees the day-to-day operations and recruitment of two training programs; the CNC Fast Track Training and the Uniquely Abled Academy (UAA) training program. Her effort has directly guided several of the training programs toward statewide honors and awards. She is also instrumental in organizing and planning the annual SCV Manufacturing Day event, CACT Technology Workshops and other grant-related projects.