One of Albert Lea’s largest employers will be offering state-of-the-art training thanks to a Minnesota Job Skills Partnership grant that was signed at Riverland Tuesday.

Thursday, October 28, 1999

One of Albert Lea’s largest employers will be offering state-of-the-art training thanks to a Minnesota Job Skills Partnership grant that was signed at Riverland Tuesday.

MJSP has kicked in $111,160 that will be added to a $132,475 grant from the private sector. The funds will be used to initiate an interactive CD ROM, &uot;stop and go&uot; training program for Streater. It’s the first time MJSP has participated with an Albert Lea business.

Roger Hughes, executive director of MJSP, said the group was attracted to the Streater proposal because it involved new training methods, and &uot;Streater is very committed and involved.&uot;

&uot;The one thing that caught my eye was the involvement in the education of their employees,&uot; Hughes said. Training and education for employees is vital to keeping valued workers on board, he said.

Developed by Riverland Community College’s Customized Training, the program has a stop and go feature that allows the employee to demonstrate competency after finishing a portion of training. After the employee passes one module, a supervisor must enter a password for the software to resume running. It guarantees that the employee will have to prove competency before beginning another section.

The training software will cover machinery, safety, procedure and will also be used for employee orientation.

However, the program is not complete, and &uot;the real work is ahead,&uot; Hughes noted.

Neil Opstad and Jerry Noland have been working with Streater to develop the training program.

&uot;We have a strong tradition of hands-on training,&uot; said Opstad. &uot;With the (program) employees will be able to train at their own pace.&uot;

Employees will not have to leave the building to complete their training; computers will be on site. Noland and Opstad hope the training program will be complete by December.

&uot;We’re really biting at the bit to get going,&uot; Noland said. They’re still waiting on a digital camera that will allow them to film training modules at Streater. Existing training software will also be used, but customized for Streater.

&uot;We’re pleased to be the guinea pig in this endeavor,&uot; Peter Carey, Streater CEO said.

The training software is actually modeled after another MJSP initiative. However, this is the first CD ROM training software developed with the stop and go feature, Hughes said.

Although it’s difficult to measure the return on an investment in training, Carey said, &uot;We think if the workforce gets better training, it will be less costly and less time consuming.&uot;

The software will also guarantee that each employee learns the same information.

MJSP has granted about $10 million to businesses throughout the state this year.

&uot;We’re looking forward to seeing how we can bring Job Skills Partnership into a broader arena,&uot; said Jerry Carlson, MJSP board chair and Minnesota Department of Trade and Economic Development Commissioner.

&uot;The initiative is a winner for all of the partners involved,&uot; Carlson said. &uot;Streater, Inc. will become more productive and competitive. Riverland Community College will gain through an expanded multimedia capability. And the students will benefit through greater knowledge and employability after graduation.&uot;

The grant will help to provide training to 580 Streater employees and 75 new workers.