Charles Crane/MDN Travis Dulzo shares how his time at the Quentin N. Burdick Job Corps Center has prepared him to achieve his goal of starting a welding career during the Community Relations Council Meeting on Wednesday.

The leadership at the Quentin N. Burdick Job Corps Center in Minot touted continued growth in the opportunities for their students at a Community Relations Council meeting on Wednesday, but also discussed the need for renewed bonds with local businesses and organizations.

Stephanie Evans, center director, said the center has a capacity of 197 students, but currently only has 127 students enrolled.

“Unfortunately we’re not meeting that goal. So I want to see a significant increase in numbers,” Evans said.

Evans invited attendees to review the various programs and opportunities offered at Job Corps, and invited student Travis Dulzo to share how his time at Job Corps has helped prepare him for his desired career as welder.

Dulzo moved to Minot about a year ago from DeKalb, Illinois, and joined the Job Corps to pursue a trade certification in welding.

“Short term, I want to progress in my trade and become certified, hopefully, in the next four to five months. A long-term goal is obviously to possibly start my own welding businesses when I get older, and I also learn how to outreach to get more welding experience,” Dulzo said. “What I love about Job Corps, number one is that everything is free. I’m learning how to learn trades for free. I’m staying here for free. Job Corps has helped me jump start my career when I needed it.”

Rebecca Adams with the Job Corps Outreach Admission and Career Transitions Services discussed her work recruiting students for its programs, and assisting them after they graduate and enter the workforce.

“I’ve run into so many people out here who have never heard of Job Corps. It always surprises me, but then I remember before I started working here, I didn’t know anything about Job Corps either. I wish I would have when I graduated high school, because my path would have been totally different and I think a little bit more productive at times,” Adams said. “But I love what I do. I love talking to students. I love trying to bring students in here who really need the help. That’s what we’re here for – to provide services they do not have access to.”

Adams said the Job Corps goal is for its students to be productive members of the community, and that her goal is to have the center as full as possible with young people taking advantage of the opportunities it provides.

Torrac Hayes, Student Government Association/ACT coordinator, touted the fruits of the partnership between the Minot Job Corps Center and the Minot community in the last 30 years since it began in 1994. Hayes said the partnership had taken a hit during the Covid pandemic, but that he hoped those bonds could be renewed going forward.

“Since 2022, we have contributed over 500 hours of community service helping different organizations ranging from companions to children, and even in the past week iMagicon,” Hayes said. “We’re always looking for more opportunities to not only strengthen the bonds between us and the city that we love but also to provide opportunities for future employment.”

CDSS Director John Gruenberg shared a number of employment pipelines that have formed recently for some of the advanced training avenues offered to the students. In addition to welding students who went from training at shipyards in Mississippi and automotive students to Clearfield, Utah who have transitioned into well paying careers, Gruenberg highlighted students who have qualified in specialties in electrical and carpentry who have been given the opportunity to begin as journeyman in local unions.

“When these two young men are 23 and 25, they’ll be making twenty to forty bucks an hour, and that’s an opportunity they won’t be getting anywhere else,” Gruenberg said.