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Unconventional outreach

Kloos believes that St. Cloud’s diverse population allows SCTCC to share the value of skilled trades with prospective students beyond the traditional pipeline from high schools.

“Typically, we have not seen as diverse a population in skilled trades. We want to look at how we’re introducing opportunities to enter these career fields and create pathways to these great jobs,” she says, adding that diversity, equity and inclusion for students, faculty and staff have become a top priority within the college.

Sometimes a totally new approach is the best way to reach diverse groups. A few years ago, the college started an annual tradition that has grown into a full-blown showcase of the programs SCTCC offers.

“Brewlash” (rhymes with goulash) began as a hot dish event sponsored by the culinary arts department. Then the college secured a one-time liquor license to open up its medium-heavy truck lab for beer and wine tasting.

After a hiatus during the pandemic,

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SCTCC promotes careers in manufacturing to the next generation of employees and shows how SCTCC can help prepare them for the future.

Brewlash has taken off. This year’s event featured charcuterie boards prepared by the culinary students, presented on platters designed and created by welding students, and enjoyed around tables crafted by carpentry students.

High praise from peers

Kloos draws high praise from area leaders. Joe Mulford, president of Pine Technical and Community College in Pine City, for one, says her commitment to the region and her background in administration makes Kloos a perfect fit for the college.

“Her family’s there, and her kids grew up there. She really understands the community and brings that perspective, as well as her vast technical knowledge about the operations of not only that campus, but our system,” Mulford says. “She really knows everything, from labor contracts to revenue funding models and where the business operations need to be.”

Matt Varilek, president of the Initiative Foundation, a non-profit that offers loans, grants, and donor services in the region, shares Mulford’s enthusiasm. “Lori has been essential to our partnership,” he says. “The college is a critical partner in so much of our organization’s efforts related to workforce development in general, and the child care workforce in particular.”

Varilek also admires Kloos’s tenacious outreach, citing her roles on the Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation, United Way Partner for Student Success, and the St. Cloud Rotary Club. “Lori is actively gathering input from partners and bringing those insights to her leadership of the college,” he says.

—Kate Peterson

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