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The news earlier this week that Workforce Development was among a number of organizations in the state to receive a portion of $7 million in funds from the state was welcome and optimistic.

Gov. Tim Walz and the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) announced Tuesday more than $7 million in grants have been awarded to 47 organizations to provide young people workforce development and training opportunities.

Workforce Development, which has locations throughout southeastern Minnesota including Austin, is slated to receive $225,000 of that.

The importance of developing younger people plays into the strengths of having a well trained and prepared workforce for Minnesota. In Austin, Workforce Development is located next to Riverland Community College, which already has a number of things in place that smooths the road for students working their way into the workforce.

Most notably, is RCC’s partnership with The Hormel Foundation for the Austin Assurance Program.

What this means overall is that there are a  number of entities in a better position today to account for a workforce of the future.

Tuesday’s announcement only solidifies the work currently being done by Workforce Development and other entities to continue that optimistic trend forward.