Displaced Farmland employees could receive educational assistance to help them turn disaster into a positive career change.

Saturday, July 28, 2001

Displaced Farmland employees could receive educational assistance to help them turn disaster into a positive career change.

The Southeastern Minnesota Workforce Development Center’s displaced worker department has applied for a grant to fund retraining of people unemployed as a result of the Farmland fire. The grant would defray educational costs for short-term skill workshops or two- to four-year degrees, said Steve Bowron, Riverland Dean of Customized Training and Albert Lea Campus.

A number of other financial aid options available to students could make this the ideal time for displaced Farmland employees to change their career path, he said.

&uot;This is really a pretty wonderful opportunity for those individuals that want to get retrained and learn some new skills,&uot; Bowron said.

Last week, more than 100 workers attended a two-day workshop to help Riverland and work force specialists determine the needs of displaced Farmland workers. Riverland officials will meet Monday to determine if they need to add any special classes or training programs, Bowron said.

Many workers may want to take part in short-term training classes like those for Certified Nursing Assistants, masons, computer technology support, or floor laying. But others may want to consider a more drastic career change, Bowran said.

&uot;Riverland really wants to support the Farmland people and do whatever we can to help them make these decisions,&uot; he said.

It is already evident that some displaced Farmland workers will need extra help crossing the language barrier -&160;a large percentage of those employed by Farmland speak little or no English. Riverland could address that issue by expanding English as a second language classes, or offering some training sessions in Spanish. A successful bilingual CNA program already exists at the college, he said.

Farmland is very conscientious about translating documents and communications for Spanish-speaking employees, but displaced workers can’t necessarily count on the same consideration in other businesses, he said.

&uot;Most companies probably aren’t set up like Farmland is to accommodate the non English-speaking people the way they did.&uot;

The Workforce Development center is virtually assured some sort of retraining grant, Bowron said. They should receive approval within a couple weeks.