Area high school students come to the Riverland Community College campus to learn about the school’s nursing programs. (Photos supplied by Riverland Community College.)

From an event on the Riverland Community College campus in Owatonna that had area high school students come to campus to learn about the school’s nursing programs. (Photos by Riverland Community College.)

Riverland Community College (Tom Nelson/southernminn.com)

SCC Mechatronics apprentices at Daikin Applied. (Photo courtesy of SCC)

South Central College (File photo/southernminn.com)

Area high school students come to the Riverland Community College campus to learn about the school’s nursing programs. (Photos supplied by Riverland Community College.)

Low employment rates, coupled with this area’s robust manufacturing and industry base, has seen an increase in the role that Riverland Community College and South Central College are playing in helping local business meet their labor force needs.

“Many companies are investing in continuing education for employees,” said Riverland Community College Dean of Academic Affairs Christy Tryhus. “The new trend in education and business is to create career ladders and to upskill employees which increases employee retention.”

To fill this need, starting in the fall of 2022, Riverland will be offering roughly 13 evening classes and two programs to create flexibility for working professionals who want to continue their education. The two programs are a Construction Management certificate and a Supervisory Management Leadership certificate. Tryhus’ goal this year is to get around 10 companies from the area to enroll at least two employees in the Supervisory Management Leadership program.

In addition, Riverland has hired a new customized training representative (Kim Schaufenbuel) to connect with local business and help them train new employees and retrain existing employees.

“When you think about it, you need to invest in your employees similar to how you would invest in manufacturing equipment. It lets employees know you appreciate them. A company’s investment in their employees increases employee retention, productivity, efficiency and ultimately increasing profits,” Tryhus said.

Riverland Community College (Tom Nelson/southernminn.com)

Tryhus pointed to the Supervisory Management Leadership program as an example of how area companies have connected with Riverland.

“We have several companies in town sending people to our programs and one of those is our Supervisory Management program… if there is an employee that has been on the line and you have shifted them into a supervisor role, they need some skills. Our supervisory management program can hone those skills and teach them to be a leader and offer them conflict resolution and communication skills.”

Riverland also offers its Business FlexPace program that offers flexibility to working adults as they work their way to a business administration degree.

“It is 100% on line, they take one class at a time in five-week increments. When they finish that, they go on to the next class after five weeks.” Tryhus said. “When you are working adult and trying to manage three classes it can be overwhelming, whereas if you just have one class at a time it can be more attainable.”

Along with degree programs, Riverland is working directly with area companies to provide customized training. One of those companies is Climate by Design International (CDI), which designs and manufactures custom desiccant dehumidifiers and critical process air handlers for numerous markets. A thriving company based out of Owatonna, CDI has over 150 employees.

“We applied for the Minnesota Job Skills Program (MJSP) grant and we were awarded that last year, so we have partnered with Riverland to help with our training,” said Jane Lebert, CDI Director of Human Resources. “CDI is in a growth phase and in order to be able to continue to grow at that pace, we have to make sure our work force is trained well.”

Lebert added, “We’ve partnered with Riverland to develop training programs for each area within our production area. We’ve had them come in and develop our training together with us to make sure we our getting our employees off to a good start here…so they can be successful in their position. They are helping us establish standard operating procedures and then training on those, so we can insure that everyone is doing it the most efficient way and make sure it is consistent across the board.”

The MJSP grant comes from the state of Minnesota and CDI has partnered with Riverland to help coordinate and enhance employee training. Lebert sees this type of training and partnership as a way to attract and, more importantly, retain quality employees.

“As far as retention goes, if you properly train an employee they are going to be more confident in their role and be an asset quicker if they are properly trained and have the skills they need,” Lebert said. “Having this training in place is going to help us to retain employees much better. I have always been an advocate for continuous learning, and having a community college like Riverland close by is really going to close the gap for some of our needs.

“What’s neat about it is that we have access to educational resources that we wouldn’t otherwise have in other areas. We our fortunate to have them close by and have someone to call upon when we need extra assistance or a subject matter expert in a particular field.”

From an event on the Riverland Community College campus in Owatonna that had area high school students come to campus to learn about the school’s nursing programs. (Photos by Riverland Community College.)

Riverland is also working with Mayo Healthy Systems in Owatonna and has created a nursing pathway program that starts in the area high schools. After graduation from high school, the students on the nursing pathway can then continue up the ladder at Riverland to complete various nursing degrees.

Another recent hire at Riverland is Kim Nelson, who joins the staff as the school’s Director of Career and Community Connections. She works with area companies to help them connect with Riverland’s students and also guide them toward programming and educational opportunities that may be of assistance to their needs.

“We did this so, number one - the students can go work at those companies and number two - so that the companies can be part of our advisory committees to make sure our programs are relevant and keeping current. We want to create a partnership so we have successful career and technical education programs,” Tryhus said.

The cause for the present labor pool shortage can be attributed to several factors including an aging demographic in southern Minnesota along with other issues such as finding day care, affordable housing and transportation issues.

“The growth in Owatonna is just huge. There are new companies coming to town continuously, which is amazing but we also need to bring those workers here,” Tyrhus said. “It is just a different time now after the pandemic. People got used to teleworking and things like that… peoples’ needs are different and they want flexibility. The companies that are getting creative are the one’s getting and retaining the employees.”

South Central College President Annette Parker added her insight into the reasons for labor pool shortages in this area, and also highlighted the positive impact of the state’s community and technical colleges.

“There are a variety of factors. The aging out and retirement of the current workforce is a significant factor. The skills gap is another, which is where our community and technical college comes in,” Parker said. “In a relatively short period of time, individuals can receive the education and skills they need to start a rewarding career and make a good living.

One of the trends in education is creating career ladders and stackable credentials. A student might get a computer technology degree in college and then add on things such as CISCO or network security certification.

“The education world views it as on ramps and off ramps,” Tyrhus said. “First you go to education and then take an off ramp to work for awhile…then you take an on ramp to do further studies and get another certificate to stack on top of that degree.”

In fact, Riverland is working with the Owatonna Chamber of Commerce and the school district to develop a Learn to Earn model that will provide employment and educational opportunities along with assisting business in meeting their work force needs. Tyrhus said area business will also be included in the development of this program to gain insight into their needs.

“We are bringing the community together to create work force and educational solutions,” Tyhrus said.

South Central College is also playing a major role in helping train and build the area’s labor force through several unique programs.

“South Central College partners with employers through a number of programs,” Parker said. “Certainly, most people know about the many academic programs that offer certificate, diploma and associate degrees. But businesses in our region also benefit from a special division of South Central College called Customized Workforce Education (formerly known as the Center for Business and Industry), which provides specialized, short-term career training to approximately 12,000 learners each year. The focus of Customized Workforce Education is helping employers upskill their employees and helping individuals advance in their current field or pursue a new occupation.”

Parker added, “One incredibly successful program is how SCC Customized Workforce Education partners with businesses in obtaining Minnesota Jobs Skills Partnership grants to fund on-site training to upskill their current workforce.

South Central College (File photo/southernminn.com)

“In addition, both SCC’s academic programs and our Customized Workforce Education partner with companies on registered apprenticeships and PIPELINE Dual Training, which allows individuals to gain a college education and on-the-job experience at the same time. The PIPELINE program has been particularly successful. Funded by the legislature, the PIPELINE program provides grants to employers and training partners (such as SCC) to deliver dual training to meet industry developed occupational competency standards. Since 2016, employers partnering with SCC have received more than a million dollars in PIPELINE grants.”

In May 2022, area companies receiving PIPELINE Dual Training grants from the state included Daikin Applied Americas, K&G Manufacturing, MRG, Post Consumer Brands and Sage Electrochromics.

“We are also proud of our partnership with Faribault Public Schools and industry partners to establish the H2C program – High School to College and Career. This Pathway program for high school students was launched this past Fall with high school students being able to classes for high school and college credit, allowing them to complete the first two to three semesters of a health sciences program at SCC while still in high school,” Parker said. "While pursuing this education while still in high school they can also earn certificates along the way, enabling them to start working and gaining valuable experience in the healthcare field. We will be expanding H2C to include carpentry and the advanced manufacturing field of mechatronics in the fall.”

Daikin Applied Americas, formerly McQuay International, has been part of the manufacturing base in the Faribault area for over 50 years. The Dual Training grant it received from the state is being used for a maintenance apprenticeship program, which is part of the company’s mechatronics program for its employees.

“It is a two-year program but they have up to 36 months to complete it because we know it is tough since they work 30 hours and go to school for 10 hours,” said George Chapple, Daikin Senior Manager of Learning Operations. “We work according their class schedule, so their work schedule will flex according to what they need to do for school.”

Chapple said that Daikin has also received a Minnesota Jobs Skill Partnership grant that will offer a variety of training programs for new hires and incumbent employees.

SCC Mechatronics apprentices at Daikin Applied. (Photo courtesy of SCC)

“We want to be attract new people and retain employees by offering world class training, because we know that training is a huge factor…when we look at Owatonna and Faribault and this region, our unemployed rate is so low, we have to look at ways of attracting people to our business. We want to do things that will skill them up, so they will be successful within Daikin and then ultimately make careers at Daikin,” Chapple said.

“This is part of our strategy, not only to recruit new talent, but to retain that talent within our organization.

Daikin has been associated with SCC for about five years and it works with the college to develop training and educational programs based upon their needs.

“We look at how we are attracting people into our organization but more importantly, once they get into our organization how do we train them to be successful in our organization,” Chapple said.

In addition to educational partnerships with SCC, Daikin is striving to built connections with the community and area schools to help meet its labor needs.

“We are making sure that we are reaching out to all kinds of people in our communities,” Chapple said. “Daikin is also becoming more involved in our communities and how we can make a greater presence in the community so people know who we are and maybe think about having a position at Daikin.

“We are going into the high schools, so part of my team- the braziers from Owatonna and Faribault went to the local high schools shop classes and gave a demonstration and lecture about what is braizing…and we are going to be doing that with other positions,” Chapple said.

For more information on the programs offered at South Central College, visit southcentral.edu or call 507-389-7200. For more information on the programs offered at Riverland Community College, please visit riverland.edu or call 507-433-0600.

Tom Nelson is a freelance writer. Reach the editor at editor@apgsomn.com.

Data included is taken from the Minnesota Department of Health Daily reports. Because all data is preliminary, the change in number of cumulative positive cases and deaths from one day to the next may not equal the newly reported cases or deaths.

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