Summit Academy Trades Classes Being Offered For Free

(KNSI) – Summit Academy is expanding into St. Cloud to offer local construction training.

The 20-week program is available for carpentry and electrical occupations. The classes are free thanks to a partnership with several area organizations, including the Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation and CareerForce St. Cloud.

Summit is open to anyone 18 years or older, regardless of their level of education. Informational sessions will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting next week at the CareerForce office on Northway Drive.

The first classes begin in early December. The second half of the course will require students to attend Summit’s campus in Minneapolis. Free transportation will be provided.

Gail Cruikshank, Talent Director of the Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation, says, “This partnership is vital to our region and will help us to meet some of our immediate workforce needs.”

Summit President Leroy West says, “St. Cloud is one of the
communities being hit hardest at a time when they are in desperate need of skilled workers.”

Summit’s course provides an avenue to middle-class trades careers without the financial burden that results from a four-year university degree. West says graduates will be connected quickly to good-paying jobs. He says the company has a long history of lifting people out of poverty by introducing them to a construction career.

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