FasTRAC Adult Career Pathways

About the Program

Category: Personnel Management, Employment and Training (Best in Category)

Year: 2015

The Washington County Workforce Center is an agency that prepares residents for employment, and supplies area employers with qualified job candidates. During the recent Great Recession, it was overwhelmed by newly-laid off residents who needed retraining and assistance to move quickly back into the workforce. With recent economic growth in Minnesota, the unemployment rate has fallen to 3.3 percent, which could be considered close to full employment. At the same time, employers are seeking new employees as they expand along with the current economic expansion. The answer has been to find those residents who have barriers to employment, and put them on a FasTRAC, the name of a program that provides basic remedial education, and rapid training, using the resources of educational partners, for jobs that are in high demand today and into the future. The results are apparent in the numbers: participants have graduated from the program, and moved into internships, employment, or continued their education. A new cohort in the program is currently enrolled in educational programs. The program is proving successful for both those in need of employment, and those in need of skilled employees needed to move their business forward.