Are you aware that over one-third of households in WI struggle to afford basic necessities?*

Moraine Park Technical College is excited to host national speakers, Terie Dreussi-Smith and Ruth Weirich, from aha! Process, Inc., to help bridge the gap and provide a better understanding of poverty in our communities and workplaces to assist with retention, productivity, and engagement in entry-level workers. This two-day summit will be held on March 12 and 13 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The event will consist of a Bridges out of Poverty and Workplace Stability workshop to learn how to achieve workplace stability for entry-level employee retention and performance. These sessions will help us recognize the signs of poverty and the range of factors that create instability for our employees, and see how instability, employee performance, and profitability are related.

Employers have come to understand diversity in terms of age, race, and gender – now they need to understand it in terms of socioeconomic class. The income and resource gap is a growing divide in workplace culture, causing missed opportunities from miscommunications to separations, as well as lost productivity, promotion, and profit.
“Viewing a diverse workforce through the lens of economic class allows a company to create more stability for team members and for the business, which results in higher retention, higher productivity, more engagement, and increased profits.” – Ruth K. Weirich, Workplace Stability, p. 129

Did you also know that 27% of households in the MPTC district fall below the ALICE level? ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed; it’s a way for defining men and women who work hard, earn above the federal poverty level, but still not enough to afford a basic household budget.*

With that being said, are you aware of the hidden rules, culture, and range of factors that contribute to the instabilities in poverty? Workplace instability issues have an impact on employee retention and performance across all industries. We are hoping these sessions will raise awareness and give you the tools to provide open lines of communication with your employees, ultimately creating higher employee retention.

Bridges out of Poverty will use the lens of economic class to provide concrete tools and strategies for a community to alleviate poverty.  The Bridges out of Poverty and Workplace Stability sessions will provide tools and strategies for you to:

• Recognize the signs of poverty
• Understand the culture of poverty
• Recognize the range of factors that create instability for employees
• See how instability, employee performance and profitability are related

Event details:
March 12 & 13, 2019
8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts
Fond du Lac, WI

For more information or to register for this event, visit http://bit.ly/bridgesmptc . 

*www.unitedforalice.org/wisconsin

Moraine Park Technical College held its seventh Strategy, Alignment, Talent
(STRAT) 2.0 program graduation ceremony on December 12, 2018, at the Fond du Lac campus.

The STRAT 2.0 program was developed by Moraine Park’s Economic and Workforce Development division and goes beyond the typical training –  integrating feedback, stretch assignments, experiential learning and one-on-one coaching to accelerate individual performance. Individuals are sponsored by their employers and organizations to participate in cross-functional development linking strategy and execution to achieve measureable results within their organizations.  Through the program, students participate in workshops, networking events, professional coaching and self-assessments to reinforce application of key concepts to enhance individual and organizational effectiveness.

STRAT teaches participants how to make big-picture management decisions and helps them develop self-awareness as a leader that improve their company’s performance. A local executive sponsor indicated, “STRAT teaches participants how to deal with today’s issues and prepare for tomorrow’s challenges. You need to look at how to put out today’s fires while preventing them in the future.” The program supports companies with their succession planning strategy and developing their talent pipeline for the next level of executives.

The STRAT 2018 participants included Kelly Weninger, Human Resources Manager at A&W Iron & Metal, Inc.; Shannon Neu, RN Manager at Beaver Dam Community Hospital; Briana Wagner, Strategic Projects Manager at Grande Cheese; Megan Pea, Deposit Operations Officer at Horicon Bank; Christopher Stath, Director of Purchasing and Sales at Sadoff Iron & Metal Company; and Oliver Vogel, IT Administrator at Spring Valley (not pictured).

Registration is currently in process for the 2019 STRAT session. To register, call 1-800-472-4554 ext. 3449. For more information on the STRAT program visit morainepark.edu/strat.

Talitha is the new WIOA Training Navigator for Moraine Park, stationed on the Beaver Dam campus and part of the Economic and Workforce Development department.  In case you are wondering what WIOA stands for, it means Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and Talitha’s primary role is to provide various supports for adults with barriers who want to pursue MPTC training programs which help lead them to economic self-sufficiency. 

Talitha comes to Moraine Park having spent the last ten years teaching Language Arts at La Follette High School on Madison’s east side.  She has also taught AVID for five years, which is a program designed to support students with barriers succeed in high school and prepare for college. While she found profound meaning in her work as a teacher, she was also ready to make a career change and is excited to shift her career to providing individualized supports for motivated adults.

Talitha says she is passionate about the goals of WIOA which align with the amazing work that MPTC is already doing.  She believes that by eliminating some of the small financial barriers that prevent many individuals from pursuing education/training, we can help them forge paths out of poverty and dependence on government assistance.  Talitha is truly excited for the opportunity to support motivated individuals pursue more stable and meaningful lives, and feels honored to do this work as a member of the MPTC community.

For more information on Moraine Park, visit morainepark.edu.

Moraine Park Technical College held its bi-annual Manufacturing Skills Academy graduation on Thursday, December 13. The College had 23 students graduate from the program; 10 from the Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machinist boot camp and 13 from the welding boot camp.

This program was designed to combat the skilled worker shortage by offering a variety of boot camp sessions. The boot camp sessions are free to participants, teach skills that are unique to a particular pathway, and connect students with area employers. The program also combines a 144-hour paid internship with coursework, including Occupational Math, Print Reading, Team Building, Problem Solving, and program-specific courses. Participating internship sites for this session were Amerequip Corporation, Apache Stainless, Fives Giddings & Lewis, Integrity Saw & Tool, Mayville Engineering Company, Metalcraft of Mayville, Mid States Aluminum, Signicast, Wabash National, and Weasler Engineering.

Since the induction of these sessions in 2012, Moraine Park has had 298 students graduate from the welding and CNC boot camp programs.

Those who completed the most recent CNC boot camp include: Darlene Anderson of Fond du Lac, Nicole Busack of West Bend, Robert Fisher of North Fond du Lac, Ryan Gaus of Fond du Lac, Cory Herrmann of Fond du Lac, Kyle Jenquine of Fond du Lac, Montgomery Kikkert of Fox Lake, Carissa Metz of Waupun, Rick Rodriguez of Fond du Lac, and Alex Russart of Fond du Lac.

Those who completed the welding boot camp include: Brennan Bryan of Fond du Lac, Nita Cook of Beaver Dam, Jennifer Donahue of Beaver Dam, Jordan Finley of DeForest, Dave Finn of Fond du Lac, Michelle Flanagan of Plymouth, Casey Hermann of Fond du Lac, Frank Huber of Juneau, Amy Mann of Fond du Lac, Noah Prost of Watertown, Cecilia Tovar of Beaver Dam, Jeremiah Vanderkin-Jus of Fond du Lac, and Brian Wilcox of Fond du Lac.

The graduation ceremony included speeches from students Busack and Mann.

Busack, a CNC graduate, is grateful for the experience Moraine Park gave her through the boot camp program.

“A lot of us have worked dead end jobs, and didn’t know our hidden potential,” said Busack. “Thanks to Moraine Park and our instructors, we all have a chance to find it. This has opened so many doors for a lot of us.”

Busack served her program internship at Signicast in Hartford and was hired full-time prior to graduation.

Mann, a welding graduate, came to Moraine Park in search of a career she could be passionate about. She completed her internship at Mayille Engineering Company (MEC) and was also hired on as a full-time employee prior to graduation.  

“The boot camp program taught me that if there’s something I really want to accomplish, I can do it,” Mann said. “I am standing here today as a welder, a high school graduate, and a newly hired employee of Mayville Engineering Company.”

Moraine Park’s Skills Academy boot camps are free to participating students, thanks to grant dollars from Wisconsin Fast Forward and financial support from area businesses including Amerequip, Apache Stainless, Elkay Interior Systems, Fives, Integrity Saw & Tool, Inc., John Deere Horicon Works, John Crane, Mayville Engineering Company, Midstates Aluminum Corporation, Signicast, SJI/Busse, and Wabash National.

“We are very pleased to participate with Moraine Park’s CNC boot camp again this semester,” Paul Reetz, owner of Ingetrity Saw & Tool, Inc. said. “We have been able to gain quality employees who are advanced on the learning curve.  The program teaches them to become a valuable member of our company by the time they become full-time employees at the end of the semester.  It’s a rare win-win-win situation for all involved in the partnership!”

 In addition, welding training is also funded, in part, through a GPR grant that incorporates both Adult Basic Education and welding. The purpose of this training is to allow students seeking their High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED), the opportunity to take the welding boot camp in conjunction. This training opportunity is open to anyone interested in pursuing their HSED.

Individuals interested in learning more about the CNC and welding boot camp opportunities are encouraged to attend a Boot Camp Test Drive event scheduled at Moraine Park’s Fond du Lac campus on January 23 and 24. Registration is recommended.

For more information, visit morainepark.edu/bootcamps.

Tim Thomas has been sharing his culinary magic with students at Moraine Park’s Hartford Regional Center for over 12-years.

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Your opportunity to be a part of Moraine Park’s spring boot camp program is here!

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What kind of Community Education courses does Moraine Park Technical College offer?

Our campuses offer over 800 courses per year at various locations throughout the district. We have offerings in estate planning, health and wellness, small business, culinary, crafts and recreations, computers.  Basically we offer a variety of courses in many different areas; these courses are available to help you grow your expertise or to take just for the fun of it!
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Wisconsin continues to add private sector jobs, especially in sectors like manufacturing. Over the past year, Wisconsin added 38,500 private sector jobs and 21,300 manufacturing jobs.  Therefore, ff you’ve just hired 10 new employees, chances are that three of them will quit within the next 90 days, according to a new survey from Jobvite, recruiting software providers (Fastcompany.com).

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