RMCEP News
Northwest Region Blog
The presence of such industry powerhouses as Polaris, Arctic Cat and New Flyer make Northwest Minnesota a hub of transportation equipment manufacturing.
From wheat and potatoes to soybeans and sugar beets, the region is a major producer and processor of food staples and specialty agricultural products. Click here to view the blog.

RMCEP Sets Workers on a New Path
Jun 15 2022A shortage of truck drivers has surfaced amidst national supply chain issues in recent years. The American Trucking Association estimated a shortage of 80,000 truck drivers in the United States at the end of 2021. Jamie Holm of Little Falls, MN, recently experienced what that means for those seeking employmen...

Happy Summer Everyone!
Jun 8 2022RMCEP recently represented the state’s rural areas on the State of Minnesota Performance Negotiation team to negotiate performance standards with the US Department of Labor for the upcoming two years for the WIOA programs. Those programs are WIOA Adult, WIOA Dislocated Worker, WIOA Youth and Wagner-Peyser. It is always a...

CDL Training Delivers New Career Options
Jun 3 2022Career transition can be a stressful experience for anyone. The task can be incredibly intimidating for individuals in their 60s. When Douglas Mason was laid off at that age, he knew he wanted to keep working but was unsure how to start the process of finding a new job. H...

State of Minnesota expands mobile app to connect workforce customers to services and benefits
May 3 2022The State of Minnesota has expanded a new mobile application, called Workforce One Connect, that provides customers of employment and economic support programs with quick and easy access to their counselors and caseworkers using a smartphone or tablet. Using the app, customers can sign in securely and directly message thei...

Find A Job at a Job Fair this Spring!
Mar 30 2022The story is consistent across the country: jobseekers are seeking better careers and employers need more qualified workers. Rural Minnesota Concentrated Employment Program (CEP) has been making that link between employer and jobseeker across a nineteen county area in North Central and West Central Minnesota since 1968.
Today, Rural Minnesota CE...

Workforce shortages and the challenges racial inequalities pose to the state economy have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Supporters of HF4134 believe Minnesota workforce development boards can create solutions tailored to local communities that will allow as strong a recovery as possible.
Rep. Ron Kresha (R-Little Falls) sponsors the bill, which calls for ...

This month’s jobs report for Minnesota brought some good news: the state’s labor force participation rate was up, to 67.6 percent in January, according to the latest update from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Unemployment is down, too, to the lowest it’s been in a very long time, at 2.9 percent. Bu...

Mentors in creative places
Mar 9 2022Sometimes, people get lucky and find a job that is simply the perfect fit for them. Sometimes, people find a mentor that is a great match — someone who understands them and leads them down a path toward success. And sometimes, both of those things happen, right here in Fergu...

Rural Minnesota CareerForce Helps IWCO
Mar 9 2022IWCO Direct ceased operations as planned at its Little Falls facility on January 1, 2022, with a resulting layoff of 291 employees. After the first round of layoffs totaling 137 employees on November 1, 149 employees were laid off at the end of December and the remaining five employees wer...

PUBLIC NOTICE ANNOUNCEMENT
Feb 15 2022Local Elected Officials and Local Workforce Development Boards within each Regional Workforce Development Area must participate in a planning process to address the following: