Minnesota companies start new-generation pre-apprenticeship programs to build new talent pipelines

Kayla Gunderson spent years working in Minneapolis as a waiter, security guard and even a Papa Murphy's store manager, all jobs paying less than $20 an hour.

"This is not what I wanted for my life," said Gunderson, daughter of a construction worker.

She needed a career that would lead to higher pay.

Her desire to find a higher-paying job coincides with several Minnesota companies' quest to find a new talent pipeline to deal with a labor market that has been historically tight since before the pandemic. The companies have partnered with community colleges and nonprofits on new-generation training and apprentice programs to attract nontraditional applicants and young Minnesotans.

Gunderson in April enrolled in a construction training class for women at Goodwill Easter Seals. Eight weeks ago, the 33-year-old became the first of 20 "pre-apprentices" hired under a new workforce development program at Knutson Construction that aims to get more women and people of color into the construction trades.

Now Gunderson is making more than $30 an hour as a freshman carpenter.

"I feel very fortunate. Everybody at my job site has been really helpful in wanting to teach me and not just stick me in a corner with a broom," said Gunderson last week after an eight-hour shift helping to build an addition onto St. Francis Regional Hospital in Shakopee. "To be able to look back at something that I helped build means the world to me. This is what I wanted."

While the unemployment rate nationally is rising and hiring in Minnesota and across the nation is slowing overall, Minnesota's Labor Market Information Office reports there are still two job openings for every unemployed person, meaning Minnesota worker shortages remain persistent. Lack of affordable housing in rural cities and the increased wages add to the pressures of solving the labor squeeze.

The issues have forced companies from Knutson to Polaris Industries and Carmichael Lynch to retool and bulk up their recruiting, internship and apprentice programs — spending millions in the process.

The state also has identified the need, investing nearly $100 million in grants for career development programs.

Knutson allotted $10,000 this year for its newest effort.

"It is a great opportunity and gives [interns] access to commercial construction jobs they wouldn't normally have exposure to," said Knutson Diversity Director Ramona Wilson. The company also has been connected to job candidates they never would have met.

The effort means Wilson reached out to construction training groups such as Goodwill and Summit Academy OIC to find Gunderson and other women and people of color who know the basics but need practical experience in the field. The goal is to train and hire 20 community trainees like Gunderson each year for projects near St. Louis, Rochester and Iowa City.

Next month, the ATV and snowmobile maker Polaris will start a $325,000 and 18-month advanced manufacturing development program at its plant in Roseau, just 10 miles from the Canadian border.

The program will initially house 15 high school graduates in double-wide mobile homes for 18 months and add new workers each semester. They will work the assembly lines for $21 an hour, attend on-site classes with Polaris' lean manufacturing, material handling and finance professionals each week and take five semesters of online courses from Bemidji State University.

Those 30 Bemidji State credits will count toward an associate degree.

"We're excited. This is our first time doing something this immersive," said Tony Lindgren, program co-creator and the Roseau lean manufacturing manager for Polaris.

The new program will be in addition to Polaris' traditional internship program, which only lasts one semester or a summer.

The longer internships should create another talent pipeline and encourage applicants "from across Minnesota, as well as Iowa, Wisconsin and [the] Dakotas to apply," Lindgren said.

If successful, the new program could contribute to solving worker shortages — and new openings from retirements — and bring real opportunity plus high-tech skills to a very "rural and remote" region.

"We're generally looking to fill 100 open positions just in operations," Lindgren said. He hopes to have 30 of the 18-month interns aboard in about a year.

Northern Minnesota economic development professionals have been talking for a few years about the need for new training programs like the one at Polaris. So have the advertising and marketing sector in the Twin Cities.

Next month in Minneapolis, public relations firm Carmichael Lynch Relate and its peers will pair 25 students of color with a mentor, a $1,000 stipend and four to nine months of career awareness sessions taught by executives from six competing public relations agencies.

The "Take Flight" training program came from discussions after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020, when public relations firms talked about the need to diversify staff further. It brings together competing public relations firms — Carmichael Lynch Relate, Exponent PR, Hotwire, Padilla, Tunheim and Weber Shandwick — to open pathways to critical contacts, internships and jobs.

The program, which recruits from 28 universities, including eight historically Black colleges and universities, is trying to introduce students to the industry so they can network and learn about jobs in advertising, public relations, crisis management and marketing, said Carmichael Lynch President Julie Batliner.

"We are here to introduce them to career paths they didn't think about," she said. "It's a really nice foot in the door."

Public relations jobs generally average $39 an hour or $80,000 a year in the Twin Cities, according to ZipRecruiter.

University of St. Thomas graduate Khuluc Yang became a Take Flight intern in February, instantly landing a mentor at Tunheim, a "media pitch" coach at Carmichael, dozens of professional contacts and by June a job at Beehive Strategic Communication.

"I am just so thankful for my mentors and everybody who helped me get to this point," said Yang, who now creates TV, radio and newspaper media releases for health, energy and environmental firms.

Metro State graduate Daniela Hermoza was one of Take Flight's first interns when it piloted in 2022.

At the time, Hermoza was studying communications at Metro State University but knew little about public relations and never knew that agencies craft consumer product campaigns with "influencers." A teacher recommended she apply to the program.

Hermoza received a $1,000 stipend during nine months of biweekly learning sessions.

"Those sessions and the ability to network were a huge draw for me," said Hermoza, who moved to Minnesota from Peru as a child.

Carmichael Lynch Relate account executive Sydney Benson became Hermoza's mentor. Speakers from five agencies gave advice on her résumé, client pitches and jobs. Impressed with her drive, Carmichael Lynch gave her an internship in 2022, hired her last year and promoted her last month.

Today, as an assistant account executive in Minneapolis, Hermoza recruits hundreds of influencers nationwide to attend client events, try products and write about them on social media for J. Jill women's clothier, the supplement firm Garden of Life, the Minneapolis Institute of Art and other clients.

"I love all the work. It's a lot of fun," Hermoza said noting that the job offers variety and solid pay.

She now travels, helps her parents with bills and has paid off her car.