Minnesota State College Southeast receives workforce development grant

The Minnesota State College Southeast has received a state grant to partner with area manufacturing companies to create a new training program. 

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) announced May 2 that Southeast received a $399,827 Minnesota Jobs Skills Partnership grant to create a new workforce development program. 

Southeast is partnering with 3M Fall Protection, Ardent Mills, Food Service Specialities, Gemini, Hearth and Home Technologies, Intek Plastics and Red Wing Shoes, according to DEED. The companies identified a common need for advanced mechatronics and automation training as their operations incorporate more automation and robotics technologies. Southeast will build upon its existing foundational mechatronics program with advanced curriculum to develop a new 20-credit Automation Essentials Certificate program, a nine-credit Computer Aided Drafted Technologies Certificate program and a three-credit welding course. The programs will train 71 employees, according to DEED.

Southeast was one of eight Minnesota colleges and universities that received a total of $2.9 million in workforce development grants, according to DEED. More than 4,000 workers in Minnesota will be trained through programs created with the grants. Programming covered by the grants includes onboarding and training new workers, upskilling current workers, promoting workforce diversity, defining career pathways and developing communication and leadership skills.

“Workforce training programs help Minnesota workers develop new skills, while also helping employers build employee engagement and ensure workers have necessary skills for personal and organizational success,” DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek said in a statement.