by Kyle Kuphal, Pipestone County Star, Pipestone, MN | October 22, 2021 The factors contributing to the workforce shortage are plentiful and vary depending on who is asked. Some point to the pandemic and the stimulus money that the federal government sent out, saying the funds disincentivised people to work. Others say the pandemic contributed to [...]
The Southwest Minnesota Private Industry Council, Inc. (PIC) received the #1 Promising Practice Award during the Minnesota Association of Workforce Boards annual Summer Meeting for its role in Lower Sioux Indian Community (LSIC) Cankuya Program. The goal of this project is to implement customized career pathway approaches to invest in our indigenous persons, in this instance [...]
Southwest Minnesota Private Industry Council is a member of the American Dream Employment Network (ADEN). ADEN is the first national administrative Employment Network providing face-to-face services to individuals receiving Social Security Administration (SSA) disability benefits under the Ticket to Work program. For individuals receiving SSA disability benefits, the return to gainful employment can be complicated and [...]
MARSHALL — The Marshall area community needs a strong workforce, and building it is going to take teamwork, said presenters at Monday’s Marshall School Board meeting. Representatives from the Marshall school district, the Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce and the Southwest Minnesota Private Industry Council told school board members about the progress they’ve made on expanding [...]
Blog post Written by Shelli-Kae Foster, YES! Program Director On Wednesday, March 3, 2021 over 80 YES! (Youth Eco Solutions) students and other students from New London-Spicer, Lac qui Parle Valley, Yellow Medicine East, Willmar Public Schools, Focus House, and Westbrook-Walnut Grove logged onto zoom to learn about green jobs and how they can gain career [...]
Launch Your Future Today (LYFT) Career Pathways has provided new tools to help students decide, “What’s Next After High School”, which is also the title of a new animated video that explores this topic. “When you ask students this question, they typically say, “College,” largely because that is what is expected of them. Unfortunately, many students [...]
Jackson County Pilot | By Joshua Schuetz | on March 03, 2021 Jackson County Central schools are moving toward a new way of educating students. It’s what district officials call a “career pathways”-centered model of education, one that supplements traditional academic coursework with career- and skills-oriented training. “With a focus on career pathways, we’re flipping a paradigm,” said JCC High [...]
Funds are available to employers in southwest Minnesota to train and upgrade the skills of current employees (incumbent workers). Please contact Tim Jones at 507.476.4054 to get started. The Southwest Minnesota Private Industry Council’s Incumbent Worker Training Program (IWTP) is a business-driven program designed to provide direct financial assistance to train current employees to avert a [...]
The Southwest Minnesota Private Industry Council in partnership with Minnesota West Community and Technical College hosted the 27th Annual Breaking Traditions event February 22nd – February 25th, 2021. This was the first year that the Breaking Traditions event was held virtually with schools able to participate together in person, while other students were able to participate [...]
Last week the Center for Rural Policy and Development released their report exploring how the pandemic has impacted jobs and the workforce in Rural Minnesota. We dive in a bit deeper into this topic with a couple of our Local Workforce Development Boards and a labor market analyst with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development [...]