The federal government awarded Minnesota $17.5 million in workforce training grants to beef up hands-on education in manufacturing and construction, Gov. Mark Dayton announced Monday.
The U.S. Department of Labor grants will be distributed to 14 schools in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system with the help of two other programs.
The Minnesota Advanced Manufacturing Partnership will distribute $15 million of the grant money to 13 MnSCU schools in the Twin Cities, North Mankato, Bemidji, Duluth, Willmar and other parts of the state.
The partnership will be administered by South Central College in North Mankato. "We are pretty excited about this," said South Central College President Annette Parker. The funds will help the schools buy machining equipment, hire apprenticeship and internship instructors, and manage expenses associated with getting the students certifications and licenses in their appropriate field. Employers affiliated with the partnership will pay the students salaries and, in some cases, tuition.
The second set grants will be administered by The Construction and Utilities Succeed Program, which will distribute $2.5 million to educators in Detroit Lakes, Fergus Falls, Moorhead and Wadena.
The funding will continue the specialty training many MnSCU schools adopted a few years ago when factories asked for government help to prepare the next generation of plant and construction workers. The new curriculum often links technical colleges with manufacturing companies and trains students to read blueprints, program robotic machines, and to weld, cut and stamp parts using sophisticated equipment.
In a statement, Gov. Dayton said the federal "initiative will help train hundreds of Minnesotans for good jobs in high-demand industries. It is the new initiative we need to build on the momentum of our state's growing economy."
The grants announced Monday are the last part of a national four-year initiative to invest $2 billion in training programs aimed at underemployed and unemployed workers and those negatively impacted by foreign trade. The focus is on higher-skilled jobs that typically pay much more than $10 an hour.
The grants come as U.S. manufacturers increasingly complain that they can't find workers with the right skills for today's high-tech factories.
Dee DePass • 612-673-7725
