The Montana Department of Labor and Industry is hitting the road, heading to 15 different cities and towns across the state over the next month and a half to roll out its new workforce training initiative and help connect people with jobs and employment resources.
The department’s “Montanans at Work” tour will have DLI staff and other professionals talk with local businesses, teachers and local workforce development organizations about the state’s new 406 JOBS initiative to boost the state’s decreasing labor-force participation.
“These events are an exciting opportunity to connect directly with Montanans and share valuable insights, discuss new initiatives,” DLI Commissioner Sarah Swanson said in a statement. “We want to hear from business owners, workers, educators and workforce partners as we implement a number of exciting changes.”
Gov. Greg Gianforte signed an executive order last month that created the jobs initiative. The job pathways the initiative is focused on are apprenticeships, college, entrepreneurship and the military, while the six industries the government wants to grow the number of workers in are health care, construction and trades, hospitality and recreation, advanced manufacturing and computing, education and child care and financial and professional services.
The initiative was launched as part of an effort to secure federal workforce development grants worth up to $8 million per state — money Swanson said the state would use for a planned public-private partnership to train new workers, people who have been in jail or prison, and those who have left the workforce entirely.
The state announced Friday that Montana’s unemployment rate was 2.9% in August, marking 11 months of a rate under 3% and four straight years under 3.4%. But the state’s labor force participation rate dropped sharply over the past year, from 63.4% last July to 62.1% this July, marking the lowest rate in Montana since the summer of 1976.
The department said in addition to highlighting the 406 JOBS program, it hopes to talk with locals about licensing changes, building code updates, implementation of the STARS Act for increased starting teacher pay, and changes to workers compensation and unemployment programs.
“Through 406 JOBS, the State of Montana is working across public and private sectors to strengthen our workforce and prepare the next generation for success,” Gianforte said in a statement. “The ‘Montanans at Work’ Tour will be a great opportunity for businesses, workers, and community members to engage with DLI as it begins implementing 406 JOBS.”
Locations for the first three events, happening over the next week in Missoula, Helena and Butte, have already been announced. Each stop on the tour will run for a day and a half starting at 9 a.m. Attendance is free, but registration is encouraged. The full list of communities the department will host events at is as follows, with exact locations to be announced on the department’s website:
Sept. 22-23 – Missoula – DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Missoula – Edgewater
Sept. 24-25 – Helena – Kleffner Ranch
Sept. 25-26 – Butte – Front Street Station
Sept. 30-Oct. 1 – Polson – Red Lion Ridgewater Inn & Suites
Oct. 1-2 – Libby – Location TBD
Oct. 2-3 – Kalispell – Flathead Valley Community College
Oct. 7-8 – Billings – Billings Hotel & Convention Center
Oct. 15-16 – Lewistown – Location TBD
Oct. 16-17 – Miles City – Miles City Town & Country Club
Oct. 21-22 – Bozeman – AC Hotel Bozeman Downtown College
Oct. 23-24 – Great Falls – Great Falls College MSU – Heritage Hall
Oct. 27-28 – Glendive – Location TBD
Oct. 28-29 – Wolf Point – Location TBD
Oct. 29-30 – Havre – Location TBD
Oct. 30-31 – Cut Bank/Shelby – Location TBD
Blair Miller is the editor for the Montana State News Bureau. Prior to that, he was a reporter at the Daily Montanan and a digital reporter, editor and photojournalist at TV news outlets in Denver, Albuquerque and mid-Missouri.
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Blair Miller
Montana State News Bureau Editor
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