Career Corner

4-H and FFA are hosting Ag Academy: Passion to career, a three-day, two-night camp for youth in grades 7-11 at Minnesota State University and South Central College in Mankato, from June 20 through 22.

Learn more about the event here.

The State Greenhand Leadership Conference, June 24 - 28, 2024,

is the kick-off FFA experience for first year members entering grades 8-10. This 5-day conference offers students an opportunity to learn more about the National FFA Organization, discover their potential as a student leader, and make friends with similar interests from throughout Minnesota.

Registration opens on May 1.

State Greenhand Leadership Conference | minnesotaffa (mnffa.org)

Find a fun activity, training course, and hunting & fishing guides at a Minnesota State Parks and Trail near you.

DNR events and seasons | Minnesota DNR (state.mn.us)

Working to establish partnerships with key businesses and organizations in the agriculture industry to meet workforce demands and training needs, the Southern Agricultural Center of Excellence is a great resource for anyone wanting to implement agriculture into their classroom, career fair, or help with questions surrounding ag related careers and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities with ag programs.

If you're looking for more information or connections to industry partners, Courtney Spence who primarily focuses on targeted outreach initiatives and strategic recruitment efforts, aiming to bridge the gap between academia and industry, empowering young talents to make a meaningful impact in the field.

These Excellence Brochures are available in English, Spanish, Somali, and Hmong.

Stay in the know on career fairs happening in the region by subscribing to GreenSeam's Talent Events Calendar and get the word out about your event by adding it to the feed! Adding your event to the calendar is free and easy and puts your event in front of reputable food and ag businesses looking to hire. A 2022 Harvard study found that 50-80% of all jobs are filled through networking and in-person referrals, so there's no better way for your students to discover their dream job than by meeting face-to-face with the region’s top ag employers looking for talent.

GreenSeam is an economic development organization serving the food and ag industry cluster of southern MN and northern IA on a mission to elevate this region as the world-class food and agribusiness epicenter. Workforce development is a key piece of its four focus areas: business attraction & creation, business retention & expansion, talent development & retention, and regional branding & promotion. As a community brand, GreenSeam’s work is made possible by its business and community investors and committee volunteers with a passion to see the food and ag industry continue to prosper and fuel communities.

The letters “FFA” once stood for Future Farmers of America, but FFA is not just for students who want to be production farmers. FFA members are future teachers, doctors, scientists, business owners, and more. Today, the National FFA Organization remains committed to the individual student, providing a path to achievement in premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.

Check out the Minnesota FFA website to learn more and how to get involved.

Agriculture has a variety and abundance of careers that fit within nine exciting career focus areas. Careers may have you using advanced equipment, creating new hybrid seeds, raising animals, managing people or designing new products and packaging.

START EXPLORING CAREER FOCUS AREAS

Dig deeper into exciting agriculture careers with interactive careers pages and the MyCareer Quiz.

This video is based out of the state of Ohio.

Video Credit goes to American Graduate- https://www.cpb.org/americangraduate

Develop and Maintain a Quality Workforce for South Central Minnesota

Email: slongtin@workforcecouncil.org
Website: www.workforcecouncil.org
Location: 706 North Victory Drive, Mankato, MN, USA
Phone: 507-345-2408
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scworkforcecouncil