The Queens Economic Development Corporation (QEDC) will offer the next version of its highly successful Home Improvement Contractor Training (HICT) course in Mandarin in Flushing over a week in late January.

QEDC will provide an experienced instructor who has worked with many small construction businesses to lead five three-hour workshops that prepare contractors to pass the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) licensing exam. The first class will be offered on Monday, January 26, from 6 pm to 9 pm, at Compu21, 39-07 Prince Street, Suite 2C, Flushing. The other four classes will also take place at Compu21 and from 6 pm to 9 pm on the following dates: Tuesday, January 27; Wednesday, January 28; Thursday, January 29; and Friday, January 30. Participants must attend all five sessions, and after the last class, they will go as a group to take the licensing exam at DCA headquarters in Manhattan.

The lessons, which cost $300, include free, one-on-one business advisory services, such as consultations on permits and licensing, business development, avoiding liability, procurement and access to capital.

QEDC offered its first Mandarin HICT course in January 2012, and all participants went on to pass the DCA exam and obtain licenses to work legally as home improvement contractors. Since then, more than 200 individuals have taken HICT and then passed the licensing test.

“So far, so good, as we have a perfect record. Every HICT graduate who has taken the DCA exam has passed it,” said QEDC Executive Director Seth Bornstein. “This course really helps, and I would recommend it to any contractor who wants to have a successful career in New York City.”

To register, contact Sarah Liu, who speaks English and Mandarin, at 718-263-0546 ‘)}