In celebration of Manufacturing Month in Minnesota, we’re highlighting the high demand for people to work in manufacturing positions across



DEED Developments










Workforce Wednesday Recap: Automation and Upskilling Workers

*By Commissioner Matt Varilek *

screenshot of virtual discussion

In celebration of Manufacturing Month in Minnesota, we’re highlighting the high demand for people to work in manufacturing positions across the state, now and into the future – making it a strong career path choice. Minnesota is expected to have more than 75,000 job openings for manufacturing production positions alone through 2030.  

I had the exciting opportunity to moderate October’s Workforce Wednesday discussion with manufacturing employers who shared strategies for growing and expanding their businesses through automation, upskilling workers, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce. Here are some of the highlights from our panelists:  

*Andy Wells - Owner of Wells Technology in Bemidji* 


* We have a lot of people who apply for jobs who aren’t necessarily qualified but have the potential to be good candidates.  
* We’ve created a training program where we pay new hires $15 an hour to learn on the job and work with a mentor to achieve success in their new career. 

*Len Bakken - HR Manager at Southern MN Beet Sugar Cooperative (SMBSC) in Renville* 


* Your employees are your best recruiters – you need to work at creating career ladders so people can achieve success and continue to grow at your company. 
* We’ve translated various signs that were only in English into several different languages and that really made our employees feel valued.  

* We took it a step further and also added touch screens with videos in different languages, so everyone had the same messaging no matter their language background.  

*Jasmine Sonmor - President/CEO of Aura Fabricators in Dalton* 


* Community engagement is super important for employee recruitment and retention because your employees and their families are tied to your community. 
* During COVID, we ordered lunch at a different local restaurant each week for our employees, and it made a huge difference for these local businesses as well as kept up employee morale. It might not seem like a huge deal, but it really makes a difference.  

*Valerie Bentdahl - Director of Operations and HR at Jones Metal in Mankato* 


* We offer incumbent workforce training because technology is always changing, and we need to upskill our workforce if we want to stay relevant.  
* We also have our more experienced operators help teach and build our training programs, so they have a say in how they’re run and that keeps them engaged over time.  

*Lance Louis - President/CEO of Louis Industries in Paynesville* 


* People still think we’re a dark, dirty, dingy welding shop that’s stuck in the 1940s when in fact we’ve got some of the greatest technology produced in the world hidden away in rural Minnesota.  

* One way to combat those old stereotypes is using tools like the K-12 Navigator [ [link removed] ] that connects businesses to educational institutions as well as individual people looking to get into the manufacturing industry.  
* It’s about breaking down barriers so people can take tours and see what’s really going on beyond the walls and discover careers they didn’t know existed right in their community.  

Check out a recording of this session and other past sessions, find a full slate of downloadable resources mentioned during the session, and access a schedule for upcoming Workforce Wednesday sessions on the Workforce Wednesday page on CareerForceMN.com [ [link removed] ]. 

And make sure to view all the Manufacturing Month resources at CareerForceMN.com/Manufacturing. [ [link removed] ]

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