NEW DIVERSITY & INCLUSION GUIDE SUPPORTS EMPLOYER RECRUITMENT
With diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the workplace being more important than ever for employees and employers, Career Solutions, Central Minnesota Jobs and Training Services, and Minnesota DEED have collaborated to create a free D&I guide to assist local HR professionals and others with retention and recruitment. Get the guide here.
DEED BUSINESS CALL UPDATES
Here are a few updates from DEED’s final online meeting of 2021 with state business leaders.
Minnesota Department of Health
- As we prepare for the holidays, the Minnesota Department of Health recommends all eligible individuals receive their COVID-19 vaccination and booster shot when eligible as well as continuing to mask at all times when indoors, regardless of vaccination status.
- MDH has created updated event guidance for businesses and individuals.
- COVID-19 case numbers continue to remain high in MN and every hospital in the State is at capacity.
- The “Kids Deserve a Shot!” campaign offers MN college scholarships and other rewards for 12–17-year-olds.
Department of Employment and Economic Development
- com is the State’s campaign to showcase Minnesota’s robust and diverse community. Take a look at the State’s rankings and what sets our economy apart.
- CareerForce is now holding “CareerForce and More for Employers” webinar series each Thursday at 8 a.m. All employers are welcome to join.
UNITED WAY HELPS EMPLOYERS FIND CHILDCARE SOLUTIONS
GSDC investors have made childcare advocacy an elevated priority, for all the obvious and critical reasons. We’re pleased to support efforts of the United Way of Central MN and other community organizations to help connect employers to solutions regarding their childcare challenges. Read the full press release.
LOCAL gBETA PERFORMANCE; PITCH NIGHT IS DEC. 13
gBETA market performance for Greater St. Cloud MN’s program since launching in 2019:
- 3X ROI to Greater MN St. Cloud partners in terms of dollars of growth capital imported by companies to dollars spent on supporting the program
- $2.945M raised (+$2.55M this quarter)
- 5 employees across the companies (+10 this quarter)
- Net Promoter Score of 82 (no change)
- Shrpa won $25K from MN Cup (Fall 2020 cohort)
- Impacks raised $100K (Spring 2021 cohort)
- Itiliti Health raised $2.3M through two rounds (Spring 2021 cohort)
- ZenLord Pro raised $125K (Fall 2019 cohort)
RSVP HERE for the December 13 Pitch Night, where you will hear from the 2021 Fall cohort companies:
gBETA Greater St. Cloud MN programming made possible from the following sponsors:
30 BUSINESSES PARTICIPATE IN SAUK RAPIDS-RICE JOBS FAIR
The Sauk Rapids-Rice High School Job Fair was held on Monday, October 18th, 2021 in conjunction with family conferences, and the first full community event we had been able to host in quite some time. The intent of the job fair was to connect businesses that are interested in hiring high school students now or in the near future. We were fortunate to have 30 businesses representing Saint Cloud, Sartell, Sauk Rapids, and Rice participate and take advantage of the chance to connect with students and families. Emma and Grace wanted to make sure there was an opportunity for businesses to have access to our building and students, as well as ensure their peers had an opportunity to apply, and potentially interview for a job with easy access. They came with an understanding of the importance of workforce development and a goal of creating mutually beneficial connections.
We were incredibly excited for the response from the community and the willingness to engage in the first event of this kind for Sauk Rapids-Rice High School students. There is no doubt that we continue to desire to build on this momentum present in our community from the last two years and are excited to look forward to the possibility of future school and community events. In addition, we should all be pleased to see the next generation of our workforce not only looking towards their own future opportunities, but through the example of students like Emma and Grace, a group of individuals who are just as interested in supporting the opportunities of those around them.
At Sauk Rapids-Rice Public Schools there has been a consistent goal to provide opportunities to engage students and staff in connecting with businesses and organizations in our own backyard. This comes as a result of understanding that our best return on investment for the future generation of our communities is to ensure that our businesses, organizations, and schools work together to grow and prosper.
An example of this work in practice was a successful Business and Industry Summit held at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School in February of 2020, where district staff and over 60 local businesses gathered. In this environment, there was a chance to purposefully engage to learn about each other, the work being done inside and outside of schools, and to build connections with a goal of positively impacting student opportunities for the future. This time also focused on identifying and discussing the future of work, and the key attributes needed as students develop in a rapidly changing and complex world.
After the successful completion of the Business and Industry Summit, we at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School were excited to take the next step of providing the opportunity for our students to engage with these same local businesses as part of a spring job fair. Unfortunately, in March 2020 we all were faced with an incredible challenge with the beginning of a pandemic. We were fortunate in the next year and a half to continue to hold onto some of the partnerships that had already been developed with a variety of curricular programs. However, like all organizations, we quickly encountered the challenges of opening our doors to new opportunities and connections while our students encountered multiple learning models and COVID protocols.
For this reason, it was with great enthusiasm this fall that we looked forward to the chance to purposefully engage again with those businesses, organizations, and industries that are all around us. Emerging from the significant challenges of last years’ pandemic learning and teaching, we also recognized the importance of not just doing the work of making connections for our students, but having them engage in the process of supporting their own learning. We are fortunate to have incredible students and staff at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School and quickly had Emma Miller and Grace Loidolt, 11th-grade students in our Sauk Rapids-Rice High School DECA program, pick up where we left off in the Spring of 2020, with the organization of a student-specific job fair.
Contact Our Staff Team
Patti Gartland, President
pgartland@greaterstcloud.com | 320-260-2442
Leslie Dingmann, Business Development Director
ldingmann@greaterstcloud.com | 320-493-9003
Gail Cruikshank, Talent Director
gcruikshank@greaterstcloud.com | 320-260-6775
Amelia Barkley, Communications & Program Specialist
abarkley@greaterstcloud.com | 320-292-9296