NDSU's Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute will partner with the Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University to enhance transportation workforce training in the western United States.
Both institutes were awarded a grant from the Federal Highway Administration to establish a Regional Surface Transportation Workforce Center. The center will enhance access to education, outreach and training programs in a 10-state western region, with the ultimate goal of increasing the transportation workforce. States in the region include Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming.
“Energy development in our region is compounding the already-serious workforce development challenges faced by transportation across the country,” noted Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute director Denver Tolliver. “Transportation agencies and industries face an aging workforce, fewer entrants into the field, changing employee expectations and increased demand for quality employees.”
With federal and partner support, the center’s budget will total approximately $1.2 million over four years. The center will boost transportation workforce development activities throughout the education-career continuum, including K-12 outreach; programs at technical schools, community colleges and universities; and continuing education for practitioners.
“A major focus of the center will be to promote and replicate effective programs – there are successful initiatives happening in individual states that other states in the region don’t even know exist,” said Western Transportation Institute executive director Steve Albert. "This center will allow us to create partnerships that allow these programs to take off in new locations.”
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