Four Torrington men are starting new careers in commercial truck driving thanks to training provided by economic stimulus funds.

The current economic slump means growth in some job sectors is slowing, but according to Dru Rafferty, Eastern Wyoming College director of Workforce Development, truck driving leads in projected job growth for Wyoming.

The CDL training is a joint venture with Eastern Wyoming College (EWC) Workforce Development, Wyoming Contractors Association (WCA), McMurray Training Center (MTC) and Wyoming Workforce Services. EWC does not offer CDL training because it lacks the “equipment necessary to teach the skills,” Rafferty said.

To get the program started, Rafferty met with Bruce Brown, general manager of the MTC in Casper.

“We want to facilitate anything we can to help the workforce demands of Eastern and Northeastern Wyoming and a partnership with WCA was a way to do that,” Rafferty said.

With the training equipment in place, Rafferty began a search for program funding. He contacted Torrington Workforce Center (TWC), which had stimulus funding available for the retraining. The funds are not available to everyone, however; according to Gilbert Servantez, TWC supervisor, the stimulus funds are “tied to strict income guidelines.”







For the complete article see the 05-27-2009 issue.

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