DCTC delivering leading-edge training to 354 employees of world’s largest fall protection company
During a grant signing ceremony at the Capital Safety facility in Red Wing, Minn., Friday, Feb. 5, 2010, more than 350 Capital Safety employees celebrated a $300,000 training grant from the Minnesota Job Skills Partnership to Dakota County Technical College, which is partnering with Capital Safety, the largest fall protection company in the world, to deliver key training programs to the company’s Red Wing-based employees.
Through MJSP funding, DCTC will provide training and professional development for Capital Safety front-line and shop-floor workers. Skill sets will be augmented through a range of courses, including wind energy, safety, OSHA, mechatronics and advanced computer training. Career pathways will be streamlined for shop-floor employees through improved supervisory skills, and green manufacturing techniques will be integrated to increase the company’s competitive edge in an industry with a swiftly advancing global profile.
“Capital Safety is an exciting company with a commanding worldwide presence,” said DCTC President Ronald E. Thomas, who along with Capital Safety-Americas President David L. Thomas, MJSP Director Paul D. Moe and Red Wing Mayor John S. Howe, took part in the actual signing ceremony. “Everyone from our college was deeply impressed by the level of engagement shown by Capital Safety’s workforce. The atmosphere during the ceremony drove home the point that the workers really care about manufacturing the best fall protection equipment possible. They live the company motto, ‘Build safe so that they stay safe.'”
DCTC President Ronald E. Thomas, Ph.D.
David Thomas, who during the course of his job as president travels the world visiting Capital Safety’s international offices, reported that the MJSP training grant will bring powerful benefits to his company. “This is a very exciting day for Capital Safety and Red Wing,” he said. “We appreciate the MJSP grant and welcome our partnership with DCTC. The college will deliver training in 62 courses, training that will eventually touch every one of our employees.”
Capital Safety-Americas President David L.Thomas
Phil Jacobson, director of human resources, Capital Safety North America, echoed the words of both presidents. “Employee engagement has been the key to our becoming the world leader in fall protection,” Jacobson said. “This grant is a formal recognition of our ongoing commitment to our employees and their individual and collective success.”
Jacobson also noted that private-sector funding plus training facilities in tandem with the MJSP grant will up the total training project investment to more than $1.3 million.
With more than 50 years designing and manufacturing fall protection and industrial rescue systems, Capital Safety is known the world over for engineering and scrupulously testing the very best in state-of-the-science safety systems, including the company’s flagship brand, DBI-SALA, which is considered the Cadillac of fall protection equipment. The training project partnership with DCTC will help expand Capital Safety’s work and product lines, creating valuable jobs in the emerging wind-energy field while increasing safety for workers in that industry.
MJSP Executive Director Paul Moe
Pat McQuillan, the director of trade and industry in the DCTC Customized Training division, reported that the college will improve its capacity through the customization of existing courses and the development of new courses. Contributions of specialized protection equipment will enhance student training at the college.
“In Customized Training, we are exceptionally experienced in grant administration,” said McQuillan, who is managing the project for DCTC. “In the last 18 years, DCTC has received more than $27 million in local, state and federal grants to support workforce development in Minnesota. The college has successfully completed 12 MJSP-funded projects. We are looking forward to working with Capital Safety, which is a world-class company. Thanks to the MJSP grant, our CT division is again partnering to do what it does best, which is deliver world-class training to workforces across the state and beyond.”
Red Wing Mayor John S. Howe
