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Goodwill-Easter Seals Minnesota

For the first time since higher education reduced programs 10 years ago, GESMN will partner to offer training and education for workers to enter and advance in the printing industry.

Goodwill-Easter Seals Minnesota partners to launch training in the printing industry

2019-05-29 13:00:00

For the first time since higher education reduced programs 10 years ago, Goodwill-Easter Seals Minnesota (GESMN) will partner to offer training and education for workers to enter and advance in the printing industry.

Thanks to support from the Minneapolis Pathways Fund through the City of Minneapolis, GESMN and partners will offer classes and career navigation allowing students to experience job shadowing and gain the necessary knowledge to qualify for entry-level positions within the print industry.

Graduates of the approximately three-week program will finish in time for hiring during the printing industry’s busiest time of the year, late summer into early fall.

“Printers have had so much trouble for so long finding entry-level workers,” said Kris Davis, director of education for Printing Industry Midwest (PIM). “This is exciting to Minnesota employers, tapping into a recruitment resource they would never have had the opportunity to access.”

The print industry is still a growing field, despite recent shifts into digital channels, according to the Printing Industries Association, Inc. of Southern California (PIASC):

  • People prefer print versus digital media for recreational reading: 66% prefer printed magazines, 62% prefer printed books and 61% prefer printed newspapers.
  •  While 71% of U.S. consumers do not pay attention to online advertisements, at least once a week 63% read the printed advertisements that are delivered to their home.
  • 89% of newspaper reading is still in newsprint, with just 7% via mobile devices and 4% on PCs.

The new printing training program, which begins in July of 2019, is available to residents of Minneapolis and is a collaboration between GESMN, PIM and Avivo in response to the workforce shortage in the printing industry.

Minnesota projects a labor shortage of more than 200,000 workers by 2022 and this new printing training will position job-seekers for success. For 100 years, GESMN has eliminated barriers to work and independence, evolving its programs and services to meet community and employer needs.