Recently Northland Community and Technical College received a $293,378 Minnesota Job Skills Partnership Program grant to train 75 employees of Titan Machinery, Inc. in northwest Minnesota.

Due to advances in technology, there is a strong demand for technicians across the U.S. -- especially in agriculture, where there are 54,400 openings each year and only 29,300 graduates to fill them. In northwest Minnesota, the Northland Community and Technical College is working with Titan Machinery to solve that problem by creating a highly customized training program.

What makes this partnership unique? Titan and the college will use a dual training model. That is, it's a dual education opportunity for students to combine classroom training and on-the-job training provided by Titan. The integration of classroom and business, theory and practice, and learning and working is a familiar model used worldwide for technical training.

Seventy-five participants - 33 existing and 42 new employees -- will receive training over the three-year project period through new and customized courses that include:


bull; Introduction to farm operations/precision agriculture
bull; Equipment operation
bull; Welding
bull; Geology
bull; Hydraulic systems
bull; Ag electrical/electronic systems
bull; Microcomputer maintenance
bull; Soil maintenance and fertility


New hires will transition into a paid Titan internship at a precision agriculture dealership at the end of the 2nd semester.

During the final semester, new hires will receive on-the-job training (with full pay and benefits) at a precision agriculture dealership. Titan will supply training equipment indefinitely though one-year leases. This training will be vital to the success of nextgen precision ag in Minnesota.

How will this project benefit Titan employees? Leading-edge training and a degree will help them improve their skills and become more marketable. Wages -- $21 per hour - are considered excellent. And the school will gain much needed capacity -- the ability to meet industry demand for these technicians.

Here's the timeline: The two-year degree (four semesters) program will begin this fall and the first cohort will consist of 25 Titan employees. Subsequent semesters will open to both employees and new hires.

For more information on the grant, email Curtis Zoller, NCTC at curtis.zoller@northlandcollege.edu.