The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has awarded workforce development grants totaling $2.7 million to help train 4,400 workers in partnership with community colleges and business.
Under the Minnesota Job Skills Partnership (MJSP), participating businesses work with an accredited educational institution to explain their training needs and to learn options. Once they agree on a plan, the educational institution contacts DEED to determine eligibility for a grant.
"The Minnesota Job Skills Partnership works to ensure that critical training for high-skill jobs is available to Minnesota workers," said Shawntera Hardy, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), which administers the MJSP program.
The MJSP has awarded $55.8 million since 2011 to train 66,844 workers for employers, or about $850 per job, and has attracted an additional $112 million in private funding, according to DEED
The most recent grants include:
--Normandale Community College, ImmunoChemistry Technologies of Bloomington – $49,338 : to train nine employees in ISO 9001, OSHA 10 safety and hazardous material handling, and internal auditor training.
--Century College, TLC Electronics, Mahtomedi – $49,975; to enable the company to develop training in advanced technologies to expand their customer base to include medical device manufacturers. Training will be developed and delivered to 63 employees, including 20 new hires.
--Anoka-Ramsey Community College, M&M Machining, Elk River – $49,814; to M&M Machining, which offers a line of matching options, including milling, turning, drill presses, exterior processes, finishing and Swiss machining for the military and medical and aerospace industries. All 37 employees – two of them new – will participate in advanced blueprint reading and inspection, Kaizan and Problem Solving.
--Anoka-Ramsey Community College, Kraus-Anderson Construction, Minneapolis – $394,279; to train 500 employees in technology training; compliance and certification training; field management training; and micro learning. Trainees will be required to access and use high-tech equipment and software.
The single largest grant of $397,557 is going to Normandale Community College, to work with Medtronic, the global manufacturer, to develop a strategy to advance Medtronic's information and data literacy.
