Exceptional Workforce Training

Exceptional Workforce Training

M State’s Workforce Development Solutions division, or WDS, has seen great growth over the years. WDS has a long and strong reputation for providing workforce development services and other responsive training programs to thousands of participants every year, serving a clientele of more than 500 regional businesses and industries.

In 2022, WDS provided 101,904 hours of training to 5,466 people from 172 businesses. The division saw record-setting revenues and expects to do so again in 2023.

“WDS continues to expand to meet the workforce training needs in our region and beyond,” says G.L. Tucker, executive director of WDS. “Our model of providing any customized training solution, at any time and any location, allows our business and industry partners to schedule training when it is convenient for them. Customizing the training solution in this way adds value for the partner and ensures their employees receive the skills-based training they need to be successful.”

As a recent example of the kind of innovative services WDS can provide, and the unique partnerships it seeks out, this past spring the division embarked on a pilot project with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office to provide targeted workforce training to people incarcerated at the county jail. It was the first time the county offered college-level, curriculum-based coursework at the jail.

WDS’s customized trainings are offered above and beyond the targeted instruction and training that M State students receive when they enroll in any credit-based technical program or course. The curriculum for M State’s technical programs is developed with input from regional business and industry leaders to ensure graduates are fully prepared for jobs in their chosen field, and students often gain hands-on experience in real-world work environments like laboratories, healthcare settings or manufacturing facilities.

In addition, M State currently has 13 regional business and industry partners that offer sponsored degrees or tuition reimbursement incentives to students, in a wide range of career fields. The college’s newest such sponsor, Fargo biomanufacturing company Aldevron, is offering sponsored diplomas and degrees in Bioscience. The partnership addresses a specific workforce demand in biomanufacturing while offering M State students full-ride sponsorships and guaranteed jobs after they graduate.

Beneficial partnerships and opportunities like these will only continue to grow at M State. Federal and state investment in equitable access to education and good-paying jobs is on the rise, as is the regional need for skilled workers. Just this past spring, M State was awarded a $4.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor – the largest grant in the college’s history – to expand equitable access to training for jobs in healthcare and other key regional industries.