Tom

Tom, Dislocated Worker, NEMOJT

I want to thank all the people from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development for all of the assistance I received to help through my transition in life. I was permanently laid off after 10 years of employment and am grateful for the opportunity to learn a new skill with a much better paying new job and future.

At my age, getting a Class A CDL seemed like a good choice, and I really had no other options for funding. At first I was overwhelmed with school (17 credits), but getting assistance with my tuition and other expenses greatly helped me focus on my school work. During my first two weeks of schooling I was having a hard time adapting and was facing dropping out – until your program.  Once I was able to not worry about facing a huge bill and focus on my studies, I ended up on the Dean’s List! I truly feel that without the help of the Dislocated Worker Program I would have been overwhelmed.

In my previous occupation, it took me ten years to move from $6.65 to $10/hr and now after four months of school, my starting wage is $16/hr. I want to give a special thanks to Dena Edstrom for always making me feel okay about asking for help. There’s a lot more I could say, but really all I can say is thank you sincerely!