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Program connects students to careers

FAIRMONT– During his first Fairmont Economic Development Authority (FEDA) meeting on Monday, new Economic Development Coordinator, Ned Koppen, shared that CareerWise would be kicking off again.

CareerWise is a joint venture between the Fairmont Area Chamber of Commerce and FEDA that started in 2019.

“When I was with the Chamber I worked with Linsey (Preuss) when she was in this position. It’s a workforce effort to connect kids graduating from our county high schools who want to get into the workforce,” Koppen said.

He said those students are connected to employers in this community that offer programs like on-the-job training, continuing education, apprenticeships or job shadowing.

Booklets were made which include infographics from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) about different in-demand careers, education requirements, costs associated with them and salary.

The booklets also include some information on the six local sponsoring businesses: HyVee, STEP Inc, Lakeview Methodist Health Care Center, Valero Renewables, Day Plumping and Fairmont Ford.

“They are promoting the careers they have that could apply to someone coming out of high school or someone who has a shorter education path out of high school,” Koppen explained.

He pointed out that they’re not just part-time opportunities for students still in school, but career-type jobs.

“They’re really good job opportunities with really good employers,” Koppen said.

CareerWise connects young people in the community with local employers and lets them know what careers are available in the county. It also promotes the unique opportunities the sponsors have.

It’s similar in a sense to Area Career Exploration (ACE) which is an annual event organized by the Chamber with several partners for area high school sophomores.

“We attract 600 to 700 area students from 12 to 13 high schools and they come in to a career fair upwards of 100 employers in our area. It’s kind of a first glimpse for them,” Koppen said.

CareerWise is geared toward students who are just graduating from high school and are ready to enter the workforce.

The booklets will be distributed to high schools in the county. Koppen said the schools are involved by allowing them to insert the booklets into concert or sport game programs so that they can get into the hands of parents.

“We’ll get them into the hands of school counselors as well. If they know there’s a student who wants to get into the workforce sooner than later, they can share it,” Koppen said.

While CareerWise is technically a year-round program, Koppen said they just received the booklets last week and are beginning to promote it.

More information can be found on fedamn.com.

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