THERE IS A GROWING
NEED THROUGHOUT
THE COUNTRY, AND
RIGHT HERE IN THE
NORTHEAST METRO, TO
FILL JOBS IN A VARIETY
OF SECTORS. VHEDC IS
WORKING TO BE PART
OF THE SOLUTION.
Front and center is student Gavin Tschida (junior while he participated in 2019 Gen Z)
I
n early 2019, VHEDC was one
of five partnerships awarded a
$100,000 Youth Skills Training
Grant to develop and implement
paid learning opportunities for
students ages 16 and over. VHEDC’s
program, the NE Metro Manufacturing
Education Partnership, or NEME, works
with several different school districts,
including Mounds View, North St.
Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale, Roseville,
White Bear Lake, and Northeast Metro
916 Intermediate School District. Area
manufacturers and Ramsey County are
key partners in the program as well.
Rich Wessels
Project Manager | Youth Skills
Training (YST) Program
Rich Wessels, Project Manager of the
Youth Skills Training Program (YST)
at the Minnesota
Department of
Labor and Industry,
says the grant will
go for two years.
“Funds can be
used to expose
students to the
manufacturing
industry and
provide safe,
healthy and
meaningful paid
work experiences.
This program
is designed to
help with the
shortage of skilled
workers within the
manufacturing
industry, and help
students learn
about high demand
and living wage
careers.”
Jenny Moore, Career Navigator for
White Bear Lake Area Schools, runs
the Career Pathways program that
many of the districts in the partnership
are expected to emulate. “This
program started in 2014 with a United
Way grant that provided funds to
start a program in one pathway—
manufacturing. When the grant ended
after three years, White Bear Lake
Area Schools hired me to come in
and expand the program. In 2017,
we evolved to offer four pathways—
manufacturing, construction skills
training, information technology and
healthcare,” said Moore.
In 2019, the program expanded
to include hands-on training
opportunities for students interested in
the automotive sector. The education
and business sectors are being added
in 2020.
vhedc.com
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