The chief executive of a key regional Victorian training centre has quit, her outgoing message said there were still big hurdles on the road ahead.

Maria Simpson has left the CEO position at the Bendigo TAFE after nearly two years in the role. Ms Simpson exits a year after nearly 100 jobs were cut from the centre, which provides an important training link for young residents of rural Victoria. The former chief says a push for profitability has been slow to take off.

Courses have been cut and centres shut across the state, with the outgoing CEO of the Bendigo facility saying TAFE faces a lot of challenges to gain some commercial traction in the fast-paced job education and training arena.

“I think the whole process of change will be one that has to occur relatively rapidly and will also be very challenging, and I don't think that that will come to an end quickly,” she said.

“We had probably been slow to make the shift to the commercial orientation that was required and therefore we probably felt the change a lot harder than many because we had to run very hard to catch up... the planning and the implementation of plans once decided will be the challenges that they face.”