Southeast Technical College serves region

As any business owner knows, no employee — from the plant to the corner office — is ever done learning.

For businesses around Red Wing, that concept is welcomed and nurtured at Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical.

Some of the largest firms around the region look to Southeast Tech — located on a growing campus in Red Wing's southern tip — as a unique business resource for their employees.

"Southeast Tech has strived to be the preferred provider of workforce education in southeast Minnesota and southwest Wisconsin," said President James Johnson.

The college's Center Customized Training and Education provides targeted training solutions for business and industry. Each year, Custom Training provided training for several thousand incumbent and dislocated workers and serves numerous businesses.

The center partners with other Minnesota community and technical colleges to deliver the highest level of training for companies in the region.

"Southeast Tech prides itself in developing the infrastructure and systems to anticipate and respond to the training needs of regional businesses," Johnson said. Both new businesses and businesses looking for a new home in Red Wing find a welcoming and empowering partner in Southeast Tech.

"Southeast Tech has a proven track record in working with new, emerging and existing businesses in developing individualized, custom programs to serve the unique needs of those businesses," Johnson said.

For working students who juggle busy lives, Southeast Tech offers online classes — a learning sector that has skyrocketed over the past five years.

Southeast Tech also offers transfer curriculum, which students can take to any other public college in the state after two years. The liberal arts curriculum, Johnson said, allows employees to gain an edge by enhancing their "soft skills" in areas of critical thinking and interpersonal communication.

"What it does," he said, "is open up the market for additional service to the community."

When it comes to business development, Southeast Tech is looking outward, upward and beyond. The college provides a Small Business Development Center which offers consulting services and resources for small business start-ups and for firms looking to expand.

To learn more, go online to www.southeastmn.edu.

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