New Funding Goes to Train Workers in Minnesota

A lot of American workers fall into the category of “Damned if you do, Damned if you don’t”. So many college graduates can’t find jobs in their field of choice. 

And for those who don’t have as much education, employers always seem to want more training than most applicants have accumulated.  

Again, as I said, Damned if you do, Damned if you don’t.  

The State of Minnesota is looking to try and do something about being caught in the position that so many people find themselves in. Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz has announced the “Drive for Five Workforce” initiative. 

The goal is to take $20 million dollars in grant money from the state and put it into five specific areas. Those areas are Manufacturing, The Trades, Educational Jobs, Caring Professionals and the Technology Field.  

The expectation is to place 1,200 workers over the next 15 months. The Governor's Office says this could impact 3,000 businesses. Finding skilled workers in certain fields has really been difficult for some fields or businesses.  

This plan is just a part of a bigger initiative with DEED, the Department of Economic and Employment Development, that will see over $215 million go into training for fields that have been overlooked in recent years.  

The Drive for Five Initiative has been around since last year and looks to help families increase their income and find workers for high demand jobs. The Governor's Office said last year that the average Minnesota family consists of three people, with 2 partnered adults.  

These families have one adult working full-time and one working part-time.  

The basic needs cost of living in Minnesota in 2022 was said to be at $60,720. To get to this number, workers would need to be paid $19.46 for each adult working in the home.

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But salaries in the state have swung from just over $47,000 to just over $67,000. Training workers so that they can qualify for higher paying jobs benefits their families but also benefits Minnesota.