Workforce Training

Buck up: Workforce development for a fast-moving market

It’s only eight seconds, but for a bronco rider sitting atop roughly 1,000 pounds of furiously bucking equine energy, holding on to the horse with only one hand for eight seconds can be a tall order. Strength, agility and coordination are a must. Those are also attributes needed for a workforce ready to perform in a global marketplace where changes in demand and requirements can come fast and furious, and worker skills must be strong and agile to adapt.

Strength from coordination and collaboration

That’s why Stephenville works in conjunction with Texas’ globally respected Workforce Solutions and Skills Enhancement Fund to support existing business workforce needs as effectively and as energetically as we deliver for startups. We don’t wait to prepare for tomorrow’s challenges.

A few examples:

• A 2016 grant of nearly $1 million is helping local industries FMC Technologies and Saint-Gobain Abrasives provide custom training for 788 current workers to enhance skills in areas such as computer numerical-controlled machining and forklift operation.
• A 2014 grant of approximately $250,000 was used in custom skills enhancement for 351 current Schrieber Foods workers in machine and production operation and material handling.

Continuous preparation

Just as rodeo contestants train and prepare all year around for those eight seconds, Stephenville’s workforce development is a year-round regimen enhanced and expanded continuously for on-the-job excellence every day. Coordination between the Stephenville Independent School District and Ranger College-Stephenville insures that high school graduates are not only college-ready but career-ready, thanks to dual-credit enrollment and programs such as curriculum-focused training for machinists, and new improvements like the $200,000 enhancement to welding instruction that introduced the LiveArc system allowing for fast configuration of assignments that are customized with target values, travel speed and angle, and contact tip-to-work distance and aim.

The fifth fastest-growing two-year community college in the nation, and one of the oldest continuously operating public two-year colleges in Texas, Ranger College is a training partner of uncommon strength with a pro-active approach to industry needs, bringing in $1.5 million in grants from Texas Skills Enhancement Fund in 2015-2016. Begun just 20 years ago, the Skills Enhancement Fund has helped propel Texas to the top ranks of global industrial locations. We don’t simply promise workforce development, we deliver the funds to make it happen—which is why our brand of worker performance is the real deal.

So buck up, power up: Stephenville workforce development is happy news for global performance.