This is not charity, though. It's workforce development. Caught between growing sales and a tight labor market, the firms hope to hire the graduates. It's actually a bit more complicated. In 1997, after a year in which turnover among production workers approached 50 percent, the company asked the educational cooperative for help.
Lake Region is pleased with the results.
Over the past year, it has hired 30 graduates, retained 24 and promoted two. Advance Circuits hopes to hire 100 graduates over the next year. Small wonder that the labor shortage surpasses high taxes as Minnesota employers' No. 1 complaint. With unemployment at 2 percent and the state's labor force growing a measly 1 percent a year, finding willing recruits is hard enough. For technology firms working with small parts, fine tolerances and the pressure to raise quality, production and profits, it may be hardest of all.