CENTRIQ TRAINING EXPANDS TO ST. LOUIS

Centriq Training’s acquisition of Premier Knowledge Solutions creates the Midwest’s largest IT training company.

LEAWOOD, KANSAS (May 2, 2017) – Centriq Training (Centriq), the Kansas City area’s largest information technology training company, announces that it acquired St. Louis-based Premier Knowledge Solutions (PKS) in a transaction that closed on April 1. The combined firms create the largest IT training company in the Midwest.

“Information technology professionals located in St. Louis, as well as throughout the region, will now have access to training capabilities not previously available,” said Centriq President Kevin Grawe. “Our clients will be able to choose from more than 400 different training courses, many of which are not available in St. Louis today.”

The combined companies will offer in-person training from 29 instructors at 27 classrooms located in St. Louis, Kansas City and O’Fallon, Ill., along with live, “virtual” online courses. A Gold Certified Microsoft Learning Partner, Centriq will provide an extensive selection of authorized training from the software giant as well as other industry leaders like Cisco and CompTIA. Clients will be able to train in specialized areas such as cyber security, project management, system networking, big data/data science, web and mobile development.

“In today’s rapidly changing technology training environment, companies must grow in order to succeed,” said Grawe. “The opportunity to combine our significant resources with another like-minded, quality-focused organization like PKS – located in a robust market right across the state – was one we simply couldn’t pass up.”

The two companies serve complementary client bases. PKS serves primarily government and military clients, while Centriq focuses primarily on corporate clients. And both offer consumer training programs that help individuals launch a coding or IT career.

“Uniting with Centriq is a win-win-win situation,” said PKS President Richard Losciale. “Our employees join a great organization. Our current clients benefit from our existing relationships with the added value of expanded training opportunities. And the St. Louis community, which we’ve proudly served for 14 years, gains a growing business that will provide jobs, information technology training and career education opportunities.”

PKS will continue to operate under its existing name for the remainder of the year, during the transition to its new ownership. Centriq plans to add additional training, operations and sales staff in the St. Louis market as it expands.

Media inquiries may be directed to Sara Lamb, Centriq Training Marketing Manager, at 913.322.7011 or slamb@centriq.com.

Centriq Training (centriq.com) is the Midwest’s largest full-service technology training company. A Gold Certified Microsoft Learning Partner, Centriq has provided leading-edge technology training since 1989. Every year, more than 3,000 corporate IT professionals from 400 companies trust Centriq to keep them up-to-date on the latest advances in technology at the company’s state-of-the art facilities. In addition, Centriq’s TechSmart program is the only comprehensive, hands-on technology training program customized specifically for individuals starting a career in web development/coding or systems and security administration.