Dakota-Scott Workforce Development Board Business and Education Bus Tour

School district leaders and staff visit DCTC and area businesses

The Dakota-Scott Workforce Development Board partnered with local chambers of commerce to offer a Business and Education Bus Tour Wednesday, August 14, 2019. The tour provided school district leaders and staff with an opportunity to learn about potential career paths, jobs and postsecondary education options that exist in the local community.

Tour partners were the Lakeville Chamber of Commerce, River Heights Chamber of Commerce, Shakopee Chamber of Commerce, Dakota County Technical College, Inver Hills Community College, Dakota-Scott Workforce Development Board and CareerForce.

The goals of tour were to show the impact and outcomes education has on businesses as well as provide a forum to interact and develop an understanding of business needs, future jobs and necessary skills. Stops on the tour included Dakota County Technical College, Fairview Ridges, Uponor and Rihm Kenworth.

Tour outcomes:

Develop a strategy to leverage the assets in Dakota County, the WDB, Chambers and businesses to create/expand programming in an effort to bridge the achievement gap.

Create/identify scalable programming to shift curriculum and address business/employer needs.

Michael Berndt, interim president of DCTC and Inver Hills Community College, greeted the tour group in the Dakota Room on the college’s campus in Rosemount, Minnesota. Youth Committee Chair Barb Dahl, Dakota-Scott WDB, and Congresswoman Angie Craig, Minnesota 2nd District, also spoke during the visit.

“I’m excited about the opportunity for school district leaders to connect with colleges and areas businesses,” President Berndt said. “They can see the impact their work has on the next stage of their students’ lives—and they can develop a deeper understanding of the knowledge and skills students will need to be successful in today’s workforce.”

President Berndt added that automation, networked systems and artificial intelligence are changing the nature of work. “We need opportunities like this tour to bring educators and employers together to talk about the knowledge and skills students will need to succeed in tomorrow’s workforce,” he said.