Get Ready GEAR UP Minnesota is proud to partner with the Southwest Minnesota Private Industry Council (SWPIC) to strengthen postsecondary and career readiness in Southwest Minnesota. This partnership, which was launched in spring 2025, provides funding to help maintain the support of SWPIC’s Youth Career Connectors serving schools with 50%+ Free and Reduced-Price Lunch eligible students in the region. Leveraging SWPIC’s deep regional expertise and long-standing, trusted relationships with local schools, employers and other regional organizations, they are able to create more consistent, high-quality career and college-going support for students.
SWPIC’s Youth Career Connectors model is built to bridge the gap between schools and employers, serving as the connector that helps districts expand postsecondary and career exploration without adding to already-full school staff workloads. Their approach supports students with career awareness, exploration, preparation, and real workplace experiences, while strengthening the pipeline between education and Southwest Minnesota industries. SWPIC organizes this work around a practical “Exploration–Exposure–Experience” pathway that includes tools like skills/interest assessments, employability and interpersonal skill-building, career fairs, job shadows, business tours, and career-focused events that bring learning to life.
This school year, SWPIC has been putting that model into action across our Get Ready GEAR UP target schools, helping over 900 students connect interests to real options, practice workplace-ready skills, and engage with local careers and training pathways. This has included a mix of career assessments and reflection, job shadow and workplace exposure opportunities, career fairs and employer engagement, and interview preparation and mock interview practice, exactly the kinds of hands-on experiences that make postsecondary and career planning feel tangible and achievable for students.
“The Youth Career Connectors model works because it is built on strong regional partnerships and a shared belief that every student deserves access to meaningful career exploration and real-world experiences," says Maria Peters, SWPIC's Youth Program Manager. "Through our partnership with Get Ready GEAR UP, we are able to deepen that work in schools that need it most, helping students see tangible pathways to training, credentials, and careers right here in Southwest Minnesota. When students can connect their interests to real opportunities in their own communities, it strengthens not only their futures, but the long-term vitality of our region.”
In the coming years Get Ready GEAR UP hopes to further expand on our partnership with SWPIC to support the needs of the region, while learning how their regional partnerships and best practices can further inform our work around the state of Minnesota.
Pictures courtesy of Southwest Minnesota Private Industry Council.
