- Steve Grove, Commissioner

Many Minnesota companies offer training opportunities to help their employees gain the skills they need to grow in their careers. At the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), we partner with Minnesota businesses to support our workers and encourage job seekers to develop skills they need to advance in their careers.

A key example of DEED’s work in this area is the Minnesota Jobs Skills Partnership (MJSP). MJSP brings together businesses, educational institutions and nonprofit organizations to train or retrain workers, expand work opportunities and keep high-quality jobs in the state. The program focuses on short-term training for full-time employment in growth sectors of Minnesota's economy.

MJSP offers grants through a variety of programs to offset training-related expenses incurred by business, industry, nonprofit organizations and educational institutions to meet current and future workforce needs in in-demand occupations and industries.

St. Cloud based Microbiologics and St. Cloud State University received a MJSP grant in November 2019 to partner on training focused initially on Lean Transformation.

“The development of company-wide training through this grant is helping our employees grow valuable skills while also allowing us to streamline our processes and procedures to ensure a quality product, interconnected culture and increased sales,” said Tonya Inselman, Employee Engagement Manager at Microbiologics. 

Microbiologics operations continued during the COVID pandemic, with about half their employees worked from home. They’ve been able to effectively implement the training remotely, despite the pandemic.

In fact, most MJSP grantees have found ways to continue with training throughout the pandemic. Early on, many used remote meetings or online training modules. In addition, colleges are now able to provide limited in-person training for small groups.   

You can find out about all DEED’s training grant programs on our website.

Apprenticeships offer another option for companies who want to provide training to employees, and provide employees income while they gain necessary skills to grow in their career. The Minnesota Apprenticeship Initiative (MAI) is a partnership between DEED and the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) to offer grants to assist employers with costs associated with developing apprenticeship programs. Employers can receive up to $5,000 for each apprentice to help cover costs including apprenticeship-related supplies, materials, instruction and infrastructure.

And of course, many Minnesota employers offer on-the-job training. DEED and its workforce development partners in CareerForce can help connect people looking for work with these companies. A person can do a quick search to find employers that offer on-the-job training for employees by searching “on the job training” when looking at current job postings on CareerForceMN.com. 

-DEED Commissioner Steve Grove