STARKVILLE – Kenna Vowell, an assistant professor with Mississippi State University’s College of Professional and Continuing Studies, has dreamed for years of creating a program to develop the next generation of skilled workforce leaders in the Golden Triangle.
Professors and faculty in the college had all the ideas to build the program. They just lacked the funding, Vowell said. That was until about six months ago, when the U.S. Department of Education awarded $2.6 million to jumpstart its proposed program.
“We have people who are great at their jobs, (and companies) are wanting to move them into manager positions, but they just need some more leadership skills,” Vowell told The Dispatch. “And so that is something that I’m really excited about (with this program). Especially with Mississippi State (University) being in the Golden Triangle, we want to partner with any industry locally that we can to try to get people into those roles because ultimately we want to help the employer, but we want to help the employee as well.”
Starting this fall, CPCS will welcome its first cohort of students for the college’s Skills Trade Empowerment Program, which aims to train early and mid-career workers in trade industries on skills related to leadership development, project management and Occupational Safety and Health Administration safety certification.
The 170-hour program will be taken over the span of 10 weeks and led by CPCS professors.
The curriculum will feature a mix of online courses in organizational leadership development, in-person courses for OSHA 30 certification, which is an advanced workplace safety credential meant for supervisors or workers with safety responsibilities and a final capstone project related to the worker’s industry.
Each of those trainings and projects is meant to give skilled employees stronger appeal and marketability for leadership positions either within their current company or elsewhere in the state, Vowell said.
“At the end of the 10 weeks, they will receive a STEP credential and certificate, so that will actually be a credential that they can take to employers that will be mapped back to (show) what they did,” Vowell said.
The program expects to host cohorts of between 25 and 50 students each fall, spring and summer, with a goal of more than 240 total over the next four years.
Vowell said the program’s staff aims to have more than half of those employees move on to supervisory roles within six months of completing the program.
The program’s cohorts are expected to host a mix of individual students or a group of employees from a specific company looking to train workers for leadership roles.
“This is open to cohorts who are given to us from employers, so if employers say we have 15 managers, we want to be in a cohort together, we can facilitate that,” Vowell said. “But we can also facilitate people who just are individuals (and) maybe their employer is not ready to partner, but they want the training.”
The federal grant funding CPCS received will cover the cost of enrollment and courses for students.
Growing clients, replicating success
The students in the inaugural cohort this fall are predominantly enrolling from three companies: Ergon Inc., Viking Range and Atmos Energy, Vowell said.
Glenn Partrick, vice president of human resources with Atmos Energy in Mississippi, said while the final number of students Atmos is sending hasn’t been set yet, leaders are excited at the prospect of growing potential organizational leaders within the company’s current workforce.
“This is a great opportunity for employees at Atmos at all levels, but especially for our emerging talent that have demonstrated strong leadership potential and technical mastery that are on a developmental path that would involve leading teams or managing our assets or protecting our infrastructure,” Partrick said.
As the program works through the early kinks, Vowell said she expects it to expand to other companies like Burns Dirt and PACCAR Engine Company.
Nic Parish, CEO of the Burns Group, said the Burns Group has already had early conversations about partnering with the program. Parish estimates there are about 25 employees who could be selected and benefit from the program’s training.
“I think it’s very important motivationally as (workers) that we see progress in our life,” Parish said. “… These types of programs are important for leaders that want to move up, and they want to be challenged but they need knowledge to attach to that.”
Vowell said while she believes the program is strongly suited to benefit the future industrial development of the Golden Triangle, it could grow and be used in universities and colleges across the country if it’s successful.
“One of the goals of the grant was that this would create something that is able to be replicated,” Vowell said. “So we are trying to make sure that what we do can be replicated by other universities, community colleges, and even other states. So that’s one thing that we’re looking at for expansion … as we continue year after year.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
