The
Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic
Development (DEED) awarded more than $3.3 million in grants to Minnesota State
Colleges and Universities and the College of St. Scholastica to train 4,482 current
and new employees
of 34 businesses.
The grants
were awarded under the agency’s Minnesota Job Skills Partnership Program. The
program works strategically with both businesses and educational institutions
to train or retrain workers, expand work opportunities and keep high-quality
jobs in the state. In this grant round, the program leveraged about $6.8
million from partners.
As with all of the other Colleges and Universities in the
MnSCU system, Saint Paul College plays a vital role in serving the dynamic
workforce needs of our communities, businesses and industries. “I am excited
about these funding opportunities and initiatives. They are giving us the
opportunity to expand the reaches of our college by partnering with local
companies and trade unions, and better prepare our constituencies to earn a
livable wage and secure gainful employment,” said Saint Paul College President,
Rassoul Dastmozd. “Generating livable wage means economic development for our
community and the students we serve at the College.”
“As
we seek to address the future needs of our workforce in Minnesota, we are
striving to better align our current workers with the demands of our
businesses,” said DEED Commissioner Katie Clark Sieben. “To date, the Minnesota
Job Skills Partnership Program has trained over 260,000 Minnesotans, and will
continue to provide support for the evolving needs of our businesses
statewide.”
Saint Paul College was the recipient of two of the
Minnesota Job Skills Partnership grants:
Saint Paul College, Gopher
Resource in Eagan - $49,958
Gopher Resource Corporation does advanced
recycling of lead-acid batteries, lead bearing wastes and related products. New
and customized courses for 62 employees include Mechanical, Pneumatics, and Hydraulics
Training, Training Within Industry (TWI) Job Instruction, Standard Work
Process, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), and Application of TWI Training to
TPM.
Contact: Paul Dalton, Saint Paul College,
651-846-1429
Saint Paul
College, Construction Consortium - $365,873
Sixteen construction industry partners, Saint
Paul College, Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, and the St. Paul
Building and Construction Trades Council will work as a collaborative to
develop and implement the “Skills Trades Pipeline Project-Trades Up” project to
prepare 140 individuals to enter apprenticeship programs.
Recruitment will focus on lower-income women, minority groups and veterans.
Under-represented populations will have greater access to opportunities in the
construction trades, and Saint Paul College’s capacity to train and certify
trainees for quicker entry in the trades will be increased.
Contact: Cheryl Beaumier, Saint Paul College,
651-846-1438
DEED is the state’s principal economic development
agency, promoting business recruitment, expansion and retention, workforce
development, international trade and community development. For more details
about the agency and their services, visit http://mn.gov/deed/.
