Job Skills Grant Helps Train Northstar Aerospace Workforce for New Jobs
~ Advanced Training for 80 Employees ~
ST. PAUL –Northstar Aerospace of Duluth will train and promote current machine operators and Computer Numeric Controlled (CNC) machinist employees through a partnership with Lake Superior College and the Department of Employment and Economic Development’s Minnesota Job Skills Partnership (MJSP).
The $201,284 MJSP grant will support a three-year training collaboration; Northstar Aerospace will contribute more than $306,700 to fund the training project.
“Training will increase Northstar Aerospace’s ability to design and manufacture new products for the aviation industry, and employees will learn new value-added skills, positioning them for advancement,” said Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissionerand MJSP Board Chair Dan McElroy. “We anticipate Lake Superior College’s new portable manufacturing curriculum will expand to other industries and regions.”
Northstar Aerospace and Lake Superior College will develop curriculum, and classroom and shop floor training will be held at the worksite. Forty assemblers will train to become CNC machinists following courses in regulatory controls, blueprint reading, precision measuring, geometric designing and tolerances, and CNC theory and practice. Forty current machine operators will be trained to become machinist I’s after completing courses in manufacturing technology, quality control process, engineering materials, and horizontal milling and indexing.
In conjunction with the MJSP grant, Northstar Aerospace will introduce their 5 x 5 Northstar Aerospace Workforce Development model to meet their workforce needs. They plan to offer internships for Lake Superior College’s machine tool technology students, and ongoing educational opportunities for current workers. Their Hire a Hero program will pay the tuition of returning veterans planning to enter the manufacturing industry. They will also work with the Duluth WorkForce Center and SOAR Career Solutions, provider of career planning services, to help fill entry-level positions that will be vacated by newly trained and promoted employees.
The MJSP offers technical, financial and job training assistance to businesses, communities, educational institutions and workers. The board brings businesses with specific education needs together with educational institutions to design customized training programs.
For more information on the grant, contact Steve Wagner, Vice President of Workforce and Community Development, Lake Superior College, 218-733-5934, or email s.wagner@lsc.mnscu.edu
For more information on the project partners, see:
Minnesota Job Skills Partnership
www.positivelyminnesota.com/mjsp
Lake Superior College
www.lsc.cc.mn.us
Northstar Aerospace
www.northstaraerospace.com
Duluth WorkForce Center
www.mnwfc.org/duluth/
SOAR Career Solutions
www.soarcareers.org/
Upon request, the information in this news release is available in an alternative format
such as braille, large print, audiotape, or computer disk. |
