The City of Tyler recognizes that it is crucial to keep – and retain – employees whose skills and capabilities grow, thereby allowing the City to provide increasing levels of excellence to the citizens of Tyler. City employees cultivated the idea for an internal training program through participation in the City Manager’s Tyler Apprentice Program. This idea ultimately led to the creation of City University in 2008. A concerted effort was made to launch a program that would provide training, education and inspiration to the City of Tyler workforce. The City wanted to create a culture of learning because an organization is only as good as those who work for it. A full-time training coordinator was hired, a Board of Regents was appointed and planning began in earnest.  Through many years of employee suggestions, it became apparent that City University’s vision would be that the “City of Tyler will have a well-trained, highly skilled workforce that embraces opportunities for life-long learning and growth.”