DCTC Partnering with Post Consumer Brands

Training program funded in part by $260,000 MJSP grant

Post Consumer Brands hosted a grant-signing event at its plant in Northfield, Minnesota, Friday, February 16, 2018. Representatives from Dakota County Technical College (DCTC) and Post Consumer Brands were on hand to officially sign the paperwork for a $260,000 Minnesota Job Skills Partnership (MJSP) grant that will help fund a new customized-training program at the plant. Members of the Northfield Economic Development Authority and the Northfield Chamber of Commerce attended the event.

Post Consumer Brands is partnering with DCTC to provide specialized, advanced training for 70 maintenance technicians at the company’s Northfield plant. The customized program will cover the following training areas:

Electrical
Programmable logic control systems
Robotics
Predictive and autonomous maintenance

Indirectly through the skills gained, the training program will benefit 250 operations employees at the plant.

The training program’s cornerstone is a $260,000 grant from MJSP, a state agency that helps fund customized training at educational institutions for employees of Minnesota companies. The total collective investment in the program, including labor, materials and equipment usage, will exceed $1 million over a three-year period.

About Post Consumer Brands

Post Consumer Brands is a business unit of Post Holdings Inc., formed from the combination of Post Foods and MOM Brands in May 2015. Headquartered in Lakeville, Minnesota, Post Consumer Brands today is the third largest cereal company in the United States, with a broad portfolio spanning all segments of the category—from iconic household name brands and value ready-to-eat cereals to natural/organic and hot cereal varieties. As a company committed to high standards of quality and to our values, we are driven by one idea: To make better happen every day.

For more information about our brands, visit Post Consumer Brands.

Larry Lewis, a customized-training coordinator for manufacturing and technology with Minnesota Training Connection, spoke at the grant-signing event. Lewis reported that the collaborative project enhances Dakota County Technical College’s role as a customized trainer for the food manufacturing workforce.

“DCTC welcomes the opportunity to build a strong partnership with Post Consumer Brands,” he said. “As a result of this training program, Post Consumer Brands employees will be able to efficiently maintain, diagnose and repair the specific mechanical, electrical and computerized systems at the Campbell Mill facility in Northfield.”

Lewis added that the training program will also provide a career pathway to promote employees from operator to technician to management roles. The train-the-trainer aspect of the program will create internal capacity to continue and support employee skill development as part of employee recruitment, retention and promotional pathways.

About Minnesota Training Connection

Minnesota Training Connection, a partnership between Dakota County Technical College and Inver Hills Community College, is dedicated to providing flexible career training solutions to business and industry. Leveraging the resources of the Minnesota State system of colleges and universities, our training is designed to make your business more competent and more competitive.

To learn more, visit Minnesota Training Connection.