The Resident Solution · Directive 03

Education &
The Workforce
Pipeline

Train students to the exact standards companies need — with a guaranteed job offer on the other side.

Minnesota has companies that cannot find trained workers and students who cannot find a future. We solved both of those problems with one program — and we have been sitting on the answer for years. This directive builds the bridge. Company-designed curriculum. Real hands-on training. Guaranteed employment. A career that starts the Monday after graduation — not after four years and forty thousand dollars of debt.
Read the directive
What It Is

A Real Pipeline.
Not a Promise.

Minnesota's high schools graduate students every year who have no clear path forward. At the same time, Minnesota's construction, manufacturing, energy, and agriculture industries cannot find enough trained workers to fill open positions. This directive connects those two realities directly. Companies that need workers help design the training. Students who complete it graduate with verified experience, industry certification, and a job offer in hand. This is not a pilot program. It is a pipeline — and it starts in 11th grade.

01
Company-Designed Curriculum
Partner companies set the training standards and certification requirements. The training is always current because the people who need the workers are the ones designing the course. No lag. No outdated curriculum. No teaching skills the market moved past five years ago.
02
Two Years of Documented Experience
Students spend 11th and 12th grade completing hands-on training alongside their academic coursework. By graduation, they have two full years of documented, verified, industry-recognized experience — not a resume line, a record.
03
Applied Academic Credits
Workforce Pipeline training hours count toward graduation as Applied Academic credits. A student calculating load-bearing capacity is doing physics and math. We are not making them sit through a separate theoretical class to check a box. We are recognizing the academic value of the work they are already doing.
04
Guaranteed Employment Offer
Students who complete the program and pass the partner company's certification graduate with a confirmed job offer at competitive starting pay. Not a maybe. Not a career fair. An offer — in writing — waiting for them at the finish line.
05
State-Backed Liability Umbrella
The state provides liability coverage for enrolled students on partner job sites — removing the insurance barrier that stops small businesses from participating. No company should have to choose between training the next generation and staying insured. The state removes that choice entirely.
06
Tax Incentives That Pay Back
Participating companies receive state tax incentives in exchange for designing the curriculum, providing training resources, and committing to hire graduates. The incentive is not a gift — it is an investment in a trained workforce that pays back in productivity, tax base, and community stability.
07
The Ownership Track — Cosmetology, Barbering & the Path to Your Own Business
For students in cosmetology and barbering tracks, the finish line is not just a job offer — it is a license and a startup grant to open their own shop. This is the only track in the program with an ownership outcome built in from day one. A licensed barber or cosmetologist who graduates from this program has two options: take a guaranteed position with a partner salon or shop, or apply for a Resident Solution Small Business Startup Grant and open their own. One program. Two exits. Both lead somewhere real.
The Ownership Track

Not Just a Job.
Your Own Business.

A barbershop is not just a place to get a haircut. In Black communities, in Latino communities, in immigrant communities across Minnesota — the barbershop and the salon are where people gather, where kids go after school, where the neighborhood has a center of gravity. When someone from that community owns that shop, something different happens. Wealth stays. Jobs stay. The neighborhood stays. This program is the first in Minnesota that hands a 19-year-old from North Minneapolis or East St. Paul the keys to that future — with a state license, documented experience, and a startup grant — instead of an application form.

Cosmetology and barbering are licensed trades in Minnesota. They require state-mandated training hours, a rigorous licensing exam, and documented competency standards — exactly the pipeline model this directive is built on. Under this directive, cosmetology and barbering are full Workforce Pipeline tracks. The Minnesota Board of Cosmetologist Examiners serves as the certifying body alongside employer partners. And for students who complete the track, there are two paths forward — not one.

1,550
Required training hours for Minnesota cosmetology licensure — hours the Pipeline documents and counts toward graduation
Minnesota Board of Cosmetologist Examiners
$45K–$80K
Annual revenue range for an independent barbershop or salon in a Minnesota metro area — owner-operated
U.S. Small Business Administration, Cosmetology Industry Data
8X
The wealth gap between white and Black families in the U.S. — a gap that business ownership is one of the most proven tools to close
Federal Reserve, Survey of Consumer Finances
The Ownership Track — How It Works
Cosmetology · Barbering · Licensed Personal Services Trades

Students enrolled in a cosmetology or barbering Pipeline track complete their training hours through a certified partner salon or barbershop. Hours are logged toward both the Workforce Pipeline experience record and the Minnesota Board of Cosmetologist Examiners licensure requirements. By graduation, students are at or near the full licensure threshold — and they sit for their state board exam. Upon passing, they have a choice.

01
Take the Job Offer
Accept a guaranteed employment offer from a certified partner salon or barbershop at competitive starting pay. Build your client base, your reputation, and your savings. The job is already confirmed before graduation.
02
Apply for the Startup Grant
Apply for the Resident Solution Small Business Startup Grant — funded through Directive 01 recovery funds and Directive 07 cannabis revenue. Eligibility requires the completed license, the two-year experience record, and a basic business plan reviewed by DEED's Small Business Development program.
03
Open Your Own Shop
Use the grant to cover startup costs — equipment, lease deposits, licensing fees, and first-month operating costs. A trained, licensed, state-certified owner opens a business in their own community. The neighborhood keeps the money. The owner builds the wealth.
The Grant
The Resident Solution Small Business Startup Grant for Ownership Track graduates is funded through Directive 01 audit recovery funds and Directive 07 cannabis tax revenue. Grant amounts are set to cover realistic startup costs for a single-chair or small-shop operation — not a token amount, a functional one. This is not a program that hands someone a certificate and calls it opportunity. It is a program that hands someone a licensed trade, a verified record, and the capital to put it to work for themselves. DEED administers the grant in coordination with the Department of Employment and Economic Development's Small Business Development Centers.
The Structure

Six Mechanisms.
One Pipeline.

Each piece of this program connects to the next. The company designs the standard. The student trains to it. The credits count toward graduation. The liability is covered. The job is waiting. The rural kid has a ride. Here is how each mechanism works and what legal framework anchors it.

01
Company Partnership & Curriculum Authority — The Industry Standard Mechanism
The program is built on a simple premise: the people who need the workers know what the workers need to know. Under this directive, Minnesota companies in eligible trades sectors — construction, manufacturing, energy, agriculture, transportation, and technology — may apply to become certified Workforce Pipeline Partners. In exchange for co-designing the curriculum and setting certification standards, they receive structured state tax incentives administered through the Department of Revenue.
MN Stat. 272.02 and MN Stat. 290.06: The Governor, through the Department of Revenue and in coordination with the legislature, has authority to direct the structure of tax incentive programs for qualifying business activities. Workforce development tax incentives have precedent in existing Minnesota law. This directive establishes the framework and directs agencies to implement.
Partner companies set their own testing standards and define what passing looks like. This is not a state-imposed checklist — it is the company's standard, which means graduates arrive already trained to that company's specifications. No retraining costs. No ramp-up period. Workers who are ready on day one because the company told us exactly what ready means.
Accountability structure: Partner companies must commit to a minimum hire rate for qualifying graduates. No company takes the tax incentive, shapes the curriculum, and then declines to hire the students who passed their own certification. Companies that do not meet hiring commitments lose partner status and incentive eligibility — retroactively. DEED and the Department of Education jointly audit compliance annually.
02
Applied Academic Credits — No Double Standard for Trades Students
Minnesota high schools carry strict graduation credit requirements in English, Math, and Social Studies. For years, trades-track students have been forced to squeeze shop time around a full academic schedule — or fall behind on requirements that were never designed with them in mind. That ends with this directive.
MN Stat. 120B.024 — Graduation Requirements: The Commissioner of Education has authority to define and approve alternative credit pathways that meet the academic standards of required subject areas. Applied Academic credits under the Workforce Pipeline program are recognized as satisfying Math and Science graduation requirements where the coursework demonstrably integrates those competencies — which all qualified trades training does by design.
A student calculating the load-bearing capacity of a floor joist is doing physics and math. A student reading technical specifications and writing safety reports is doing English. We are not lowering the bar. We are recognizing that the bar was always being cleared — just never acknowledged. Under this directive, the Department of Education establishes Applied Academic credit equivalency standards for all Workforce Pipeline training tracks, ensuring no student falls behind on graduation requirements because they chose a trades career.
03
State-Backed Liability Umbrella — Removing the Insurance Barrier
The single biggest reason small businesses in Minnesota do not take on 16- and 17-year-old workers in high-risk trade environments is insurance. Premiums for minor workers on active construction sites, manufacturing floors, and heavy equipment operations are prohibitive — especially for small businesses that make up the majority of the trades sector in Greater Minnesota. A willing employer who cannot absorb the insurance exposure is a partner this program never gets. Until now.
MN Stat. 176.011 et seq. — Workers' Compensation: The state has existing authority to structure and administer workers' compensation frameworks for specific categories of workers. The Workforce Pipeline Liability Umbrella is established under this authority as a state-administered coverage layer for enrolled students — functioning as primary coverage on partner job sites and removing the premium liability from the employer entirely.
Under this directive, the Department of Labor and Industry administers the Workforce Pipeline Student Liability Umbrella. Enrolled students are covered. Partner companies pay no additional premium for student workers on official Pipeline assignments. This is what opens the program to the small employers in Greater Minnesota who have been the most willing partners and the least able to afford the insurance exposure.
04
Student Training & Experience Documentation — The Two-Year Record
Beginning in 11th grade, students in a Workforce Pipeline track complete structured hands-on training hours under the company-designed curriculum. Every training hour is logged and verified through the Department of Education in coordination with the partner company. Every skill milestone is recorded. By graduation day, the student holds a verified two-year experience record recognized by the partner company and portable to any employer in the sector.
MN Stat. 124D.4531 — Work-Based Learning: Minnesota law already authorizes school districts to establish work-based learning programs connecting academic instruction to workplace skills. This directive scales that existing authority into a statewide, company-partnered pipeline with guaranteed employment outcomes and mandatory experience documentation — not scattered district-level programs with no unified standard and no accountability for what the student walks away with.
The experience record is not a participation certificate. It is a skills transcript — a documented account of what the student can do, verified by both the school district and the partner company. When that student walks out of a Workforce Pipeline program, they are not a candidate. They are a trained, verified, ready-to-work professional with two years on the record.
05
Industry Certification & Competitive Pay — The Guaranteed Outcome
Certification in this program is not awarded by the state — it is awarded by the industry. Each partner company administers its own certification exam to graduating students. Students who pass are certified to that company's standard. The state validates the process for rigor and fairness — but the standard itself belongs to the industry, which means it means something in the real world.
MN Stat. 178.011–178.14 — Apprenticeship Programs: Minnesota's existing apprenticeship statutes establish the legal framework for structured, employer-directed workforce training with defined competency standards and wage requirements. The Workforce Pipeline program is built on this existing framework — extending it to high school students and formalizing the employer partnership structure with tax incentive alignment and guaranteed employment outcomes.
Pay is competitive. That is not a suggestion — it is a condition of partnership. Companies that set starting wages below industry-competitive rates for their sector do not qualify for the incentive. This program does not produce a path to minimum wage. It produces a path to a skilled trade career with starting pay that reflects two years of verified, company-certified training.
06
Greater Minnesota Priority — Mobile Trade Units & Rural Transport Stipend
The workforce shortage is not a Twin Cities problem. The Iron Range needs miners and heavy equipment operators. Farming communities need precision ag technicians and diesel mechanics. Rural construction markets need welders, electricians, and plumbers. Greater Minnesota has the demand. It has the companies. What it has not had is a pipeline — and one more barrier has quietly kept rural students out: distance.
MN Stat. 116J.8737 — Greater Minnesota Business Development: Minnesota has existing statutory infrastructure for directing economic development resources specifically to Greater Minnesota. This directive designates rural school districts as priority implementation zones and establishes two Greater Minnesota-specific provisions funded through Directive 07 cannabis tax revenue: the Mobile Trade Unit program and the Rural Transport Stipend.
Mobile Trade Units are fully equipped training labs — welding rigs, electrical simulation stations, precision ag equipment — delivered to rural school districts where the distance to a partner facility makes regular site training impractical. The shop comes to the school. For students who can reach a partner site but have no reliable way to get there, the Rural Transport Stipend covers the cost. We are not going to let a lack of a car stop a kid in the Iron Range from getting a career.
Who It's For

Every Student Who
Deserved a Real Option.

A four-year degree is not the only path to a good career. For a lot of Minnesota students it is the wrong path, the wrong debt, and the wrong four years. This program exists for the students and families and communities that the current system has been quietly failing for decades.

The Highly Mobile Student
A student who has moved three times this year should not have to rebuild their school life from scratch every time. They should not lose their transportation because two districts cannot resolve a billing dispute. They should not be suspended for behavior rooted in trauma that nobody in the room knew about. And they should not be invisible on a threat assessment team's radar because their housing situation was never flagged. This directive sees them. It builds the system around their reality — not the assumption that every student has a stable address and a smartphone.
The Student Who Learns by Doing
Not every student is built for a classroom. Some students thrive when they have a tool in their hand and a real problem to solve. The current system gives those students a diploma and no direction. This program gives them two years of real experience and a job that is already waiting for them.
The Family That Cannot Absorb College Debt
The average student loan debt for a four-year degree in Minnesota exceeds $31,000 — before interest. For families already stretched thin, that number is not a path forward. It is a trap. This program produces a career-ready graduate with zero debt and a first paycheck already on the way.
The Kid Without a Clear Direction
Teenagers without purpose — without a goal they can see and touch, without something real to work toward — are at documented higher risk of criminal justice involvement. That is not a moral judgment. That is how disengagement works. Idle years with no future in sight are not a personal failure. They are a system failure. The best crime prevention program ever built is a 16-year-old who already knows where they are going. This directive puts a career with their name on it in front of every student who needs one. No counselor with a pamphlet. No vague encouragement. A real answer.
The Rural Minnesota Kid
Kids in Greater Minnesota have watched their communities hollow out as the workforce leaves. This program puts jobs in their backyard — jobs that need to be done locally, at companies that already exist in their communities, with careers that do not require leaving the place they grew up. And if distance has been the barrier, the Mobile Trade Unit or the Rural Transport Stipend removes it.
The Company That Cannot Find Trained Workers
Minnesota employers in trades sectors have been dealing with a workforce gap for years. They spend money recruiting. They spend time retraining. They lose bids because they cannot staff the job. This program delivers workers trained to their exact standard — because they wrote the standard themselves. And now the insurance barrier that kept small businesses out is gone too.
The Iron Range & Farm Country
Mining, agriculture, and energy are the economic backbone of Greater Minnesota. They are also the industries most starved for trained workers right now. This directive prioritizes those communities for partnership development and ensures the pipeline goes where the need is highest — not where it is most convenient.
Every Taxpayer Funding the System
Minnesota spends billions on K–12 education. When a student graduates with no direction, no employment, and no skills the market recognizes — that investment produced nothing. When a disengaged teenager ends up in the justice system, the state pays again. This program turns a diploma into a career launch and a potential statistic into a taxpayer. That is what the people paying for the schools were owed all along.
Highly Mobile Students

No Address.
Still a Student.

Minnesota has thousands of Highly Mobile and Homeless (HHM) students — kids experiencing housing instability who are still showing up to school. The system was not built with them in mind. The pipeline was not designed around their reality. This directive fixes that. Every mechanism in this section is enforceable through the Department of Education as a condition of state funding. None of it requires new legislation. All of it is overdue.

01
Supportive Intervention Review — Discipline That Knows the Context
Before any HHM student is suspended or expelled for behavioral issues, a Supportive Intervention Review is required — a structured assessment by a multi-disciplinary team that must include the district's McKinney-Vento Homeless Liaison. The question the team must answer before any disciplinary action is taken: is this behavior a manifestation of housing instability trauma? Discipline without that context is not discipline. It is compounding the problem.
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. § 11431 et seq.: Federal law requires districts to remove barriers to the education of homeless students. Suspending or expelling a student for trauma-related behavior without a housing-context review is a documented barrier. The Department of Education can require the SIR process as a condition of state education funding — no legislative action required.
The blind spot this closes: Threat assessment teams and disciplinary panels routinely make decisions about HHM students without knowing the student is sleeping in a shelter or a car. That missing context leads to two failures simultaneously — over-intervention that treats survival behavior as a disciplinary problem, and under-intervention that misses genuine warning signs because nobody connected the housing instability to the behavioral change. The McKinney-Vento Liaison holds that context. They must be in the room.
02
McKinney-Vento Liaison — Permanent Seat on Safety Councils and Threat Assessment Teams
Every district's School Safety Advisory Council and Threat Assessment Team will include a permanent, mandatory seat for the McKinney-Vento Homeless Liaison. This costs nothing — every district already has a designated Liaison under federal law. What has been missing is the mandate that puts them in the room where safety decisions are made. That changes under this directive.
MN Stat. 127A.05 — Commissioner of Education Authority: The Commissioner can require this as a condition of school safety grant eligibility. Districts that do not include the Liaison in safety governance are not in compliance with state safety standards. The Liaison already has the information. The only thing standing between that information and the people who need it is a seat at the table.
They will say: "This adds bureaucracy to emergency response teams."

The answer: A team making decisions about a student's safety risk without knowing that student is living in their car is not a well-informed team — it is a liability. The Liaison adds context, not bureaucracy. And context saves lives.
03
Emergency Preparedness Orientation for Every Newly Enrolled HHM Student
Every HHM student who enrolls mid-year will receive an individual emergency preparedness orientation within their first week — a private briefing conducted by designated staff on that school's emergency procedures so they know exactly what to do if something happens. No student-specific record is created that identifies their HHM status or the content of the orientation. A student who has changed schools three times this year cannot be expected to know a new protocol from memory. We solve the safety gap without creating a documented trail that identifies vulnerable students or publishes a statewide playbook that any bad actor can study in advance.
MN Stat. 121A.06 — School Safety: The Department of Education has authority to establish safety requirements as a condition of school safety funding. Individual orientation for newly enrolled students is a procedural requirement — not a security risk — and closes a gap that exists in virtually every district today.
04
Transportation — The 72-Hour Resolution Protocol
Federal law under McKinney-Vento already guarantees homeless students the right to transportation to their school of origin — even if they have moved outside the district boundary. What the law does not guarantee is that anyone will actually pay for it without a fight. When a student moves from District A to District B but remains enrolled in District A's school, both districts are supposed to split the cost. In practice: District A says District B should pay. District B says District A should pay. Nobody pays. The student stops going to school.
McKinney-Vento Act, 42 U.S.C. § 11432(g)(1)(J)(iii): Federal law requires districts to provide transportation to homeless students' school of origin and to split costs when a student moves to a different district. The gap is enforcement — there is no state-level arbiter that resolves disputes quickly. Under this directive, the Department of Education's McKinney-Vento State Coordinator becomes that arbiter.
Under this directive, three things happen:

1. 72-Hour Resolution Protocol. When a transportation dispute between districts arises for an HHM student, the state McKinney-Vento Coordinator makes a binding call within 72 hours. No more weeks of back and forth while the student sits at home.

2. State Transportation Bridge Fund. A dedicated pool covers HHM transportation costs immediately while a district dispute is being resolved — then recoups from the responsible district once the decision is made. The student never loses transportation while adults argue about billing.

3. District Transportation Point of Contact. Every district designates one person who owns HHM transportation problems — not a bureaucratic relay race between departments. One name. One number. One accountable contact.
Why this matters: Transportation is the most consistent operational failure in HHM education support nationally. A student's right to remain enrolled means nothing if they have no way to get to school. This directive converts a federal guarantee on paper into a functional guarantee in practice.
05
Safe Schools Funding — High-Mobility Multiplier
Minnesota's Safe Schools funding sits at $36 per pupil — a number that has not meaningfully kept pace with what schools are now managing. My administration will advocate for a significant increase and immediately direct the Department of Education to weight existing Safe Schools grant allocations using a High-Mobility Multiplier: districts where more than 10% of the student population is experiencing housing instability receive proportionally more resources. Social workers, counselors, and Liaison staff follow the need. The funding should too.
MN Stat. 126C.44 — Safe Schools Revenue: The distribution formula for Safe Schools revenue is set by statute — increasing the base per-pupil amount requires legislative appropriation. However, the Governor can immediately direct the Department of Education to weight discretionary Safe Schools grant funding using a High-Mobility Multiplier within the existing appropriation. The full per-pupil increase is an immediate legislative priority of this administration.
06
Offline Reporting Access — Safety Tools for Students Without Phones
Anonymous tip lines for school safety are built around the assumption that every student has a smartphone with consistent data access. HHM students disproportionately do not. A safety reporting system that is inaccessible to the students most at risk is not a safety system. It is the appearance of one. Any state-funded anonymous reporting program will be required to include physical in-school kiosk access and landline options as a condition of state funding — so that a student without consistent cellular service can still report a threat.
MN Stat. 121A.06 — School Safety Requirements: The Commissioner of Education can require kiosk and landline access as a condition of state school safety funding. This is a procurement and contract condition — no legislation required. Cost is minimal relative to the overall program budget and the safety gap it closes.
07
Staff Training & Real-Time Data Tracking
None of the above works without two things that are currently missing across most Minnesota districts: staff who know how to identify HHM students and respond appropriately, and a data system that flags housing instability in real time as a student moves between districts.

Staff Training: The Department of Education shall establish mandatory annual training for teachers, administrators, counselors, and support staff on identifying signs of housing instability, trauma-informed response, and McKinney-Vento rights and obligations. A mandate without training is a form. This closes that gap.

Real-Time Data Tracking: The Department of Education shall establish a statewide student mobility flag system — when a student's enrollment pattern within a school year indicates housing instability, that flag follows the student in real time between districts. The McKinney-Vento Liaison in the receiving district is automatically notified. No student starts over invisible in a new district while their history sits in a file somewhere else.
FERPA compliance note: Student mobility data sharing between districts must comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. The flag system will be designed with the Minnesota Department of Education's privacy counsel to ensure data is shared only with designated Liaison staff and only for the purpose of triggering required McKinney-Vento supports — not as a general-access record.
Why It Has to Happen

The Gap Is Real.
And It Is Growing.

Minnesota is running out of trained workers in the industries that build, power, and feed this state. At the same time, we are sending students out the door every June with a diploma and a question mark. We have been treating these as two separate problems. They are the same problem.
133K
Skilled trades job openings projected in Minnesota by 2030
Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development
$67K
Median starting wage for a licensed tradesperson in Minnesota — plumber, electrician, HVAC technician
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Minnesota Wage Data
46%
Minnesota construction contractors reporting inability to find qualified workers — every year for the past five years
Associated General Contractors of Minnesota
$31K+
Average student loan debt for a Minnesota four-year degree graduate — before interest
Minnesota Office of Higher Education
40%
Minnesota students who enroll in a four-year college and do not finish — carrying debt with no degree
Minnesota Office of Higher Education, Completion Data
72%
Share of Minnesota jobs that do not require a four-year degree but pay a family-sustaining wage
Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce

Minnesota has spent decades building one path — four-year college — and calling it the answer for every student. The numbers say otherwise. Forty percent of students who start that path do not finish. The ones who do finish often enter a job market that does not have enough of the jobs they trained for, while the trades sector posts the same unfilled openings year after year.

This is not a minor inefficiency. This is a structural failure at the intersection of education policy and workforce development — and it has consequences that reach across the state. A construction company in Duluth that cannot find a welder cannot take the contract. A farm operation in the Red River Valley that cannot find a precision ag technician falls behind. A rural hospital in outstate Minnesota that cannot find a biomedical technician cannot keep its equipment running.

The Workforce Pipeline is not about pushing students away from college. It is about making sure every student has a real option — not just the option someone decided was respectable. A student who graduates with two years of verified experience and a $67,000-a-year career offer in hand made a better decision than a student who borrowed $40,000 to sit in classrooms for four years and still does not know what comes next. Both paths deserve respect. Right now, only one of them gets it.

The Literacy Crisis

You Cannot Train
What You Cannot Read.

Workforce training assumes a baseline. That baseline is literacy. A student who cannot read a safety manual, interpret a specification sheet, or complete a written certification exam cannot fully benefit from any pipeline program — no matter how well it is designed. Minnesota's statewide literacy numbers look acceptable until you break them down by county. Then the picture changes. The workforce crisis and the literacy crisis are the same crisis in different rooms. This directive fixes both.

Iron Range Region
~23%
Estimated share of working-age adults in select Iron Range counties reading below a 6th-grade functional level — communities where trades careers are the primary economic path and certification exams are the gateway in. Source: National Center for Education Statistics, State Adult Literacy Data
Greater MN Rural Counties
1 in 5
Approximately one in five working-age adults in high-poverty rural Minnesota counties lacks the literacy skills to pass a standard trades certification exam — a barrier that exists before the training even begins. Source: MN Department of Education, Adult Basic Education County Data
Statewide — Below Level 2
36%
Share of Minnesota adults scoring below PIAAC Level 2 literacy — the threshold considered necessary for workforce and civic participation. The statewide average masks severe county-level disparities concentrated in rural and high-poverty communities. Source: Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC)
The Fix — Literacy Specialists Deployed to the 15 Highest-Need Counties

The Governor directs the Department of Education to identify the 15 Minnesota counties with the highest rates of functional illiteracy among working-age adults and current high school students — using data from the National Center for Education Statistics, the PIAAC assessment, and the Department of Education's Adult Basic Education program records. Literacy specialists trained in foundational literacy intervention are deployed to those 15 counties, funded through a dedicated allocation from two Resident Solution revenue streams: recovered funds from the Directive 01 forensic audit and cannabis market tax revenue from Directive 07.

This is not a tutoring program. It is a targeted workforce readiness intervention. A student who cannot read at a functional level cannot pass a certification exam. A worker who cannot read cannot advance in a trade. Fixing the literacy floor in the counties where it is lowest is not a separate initiative from the Workforce Pipeline — it is the foundation the pipeline is built on in those communities.

The Department of Education already administers Adult Basic Education programs under MN Stat. 124D.52. This directive expands that existing infrastructure, directs it to the highest-need counties by data, and funds it with new revenue that does not reduce any existing education allocation. The authority exists. The need is documented. The funding is there. This is a direction, not a proposal.

How It Works

From 11th Grade
To First Paycheck.

The pipeline is built in clear stages. Every step has a defined output. Every output connects to the next. Here is how a student moves from enrollment to employment.

1
Company Partnership Certification — The State Signs the Partner
Companies in eligible trades sectors submit a partnership application to DEED. The application includes the proposed curriculum framework, certification standards, wage commitments, and hiring pledge. Approved partners also enroll in the State Workforce Liability Umbrella — removing student insurance exposure from the employer at no additional cost. Every qualifying company knows exactly what they are agreeing to before the first student walks in the door. All certified partners are published on the state workforce pipeline registry.
2
Student Enrollment — 10th Grade Counseling, 11th Grade Start
Every Minnesota 10th grader receives structured career counseling presenting the Workforce Pipeline as a full and equal option alongside college and other post-secondary paths. Enrollment is voluntary and requires the informed agreement of the student and their family. The choice is between a real option and another real option — not a default and an afterthought. Students in literacy-flagged counties receive foundational support before training begins if screening indicates it is needed — as a resource, not a barrier to enrollment.
3
Two-Year Training — Hands-On, Documented, Credits Count
Students spend 11th and 12th grade completing structured training hours under the company-designed curriculum. Training takes place at the school, at a partner facility, or — in Greater Minnesota — at a Mobile Trade Unit deployed to the district. Rural students without transportation access receive the Rural Transport Stipend. Every training hour is logged by both the school district and the partner company. Workforce Pipeline hours count toward graduation as Applied Academic credits — no student falls behind on requirements because they chose a trades path.
4
Certification Exam — The Company's Standard, The Student's Achievement
In the final semester of 12th grade, students sit for the partner company's certification exam — designed by the company, validated by DEED for rigor and fairness. Students who pass receive industry certification portable across the sector. Students who do not pass on the first attempt have a defined remediation and retake pathway — they are not discarded. The certification means something because the company that needs the worker said it means something. It is not a participation award. It is proof.
5
Guaranteed Offer — Signed, Waiting, Ready for Monday
Students who complete the program and pass certification receive their employment offer from the partner company not less than 30 days before graduation. Starting date, role, and competitive pay — in writing. The student walks across the stage on Friday knowing where they are working on Monday. The company gets a worker they helped train, certified to their own standard, with two years of documented experience and zero retraining cost. No mystery. No uncertainty. A career that starts the week school ends.
Legal Authority

The Governor
Has the Power.

The Governor of Minnesota has direct executive authority over every state agency that implements this program. No new law is required to launch the Workforce Pipeline, the Applied Academic credit framework, the Liability Umbrella, the rural access provisions, or the literacy specialist deployment. The framework exists. The authority exists. What has been missing is a governor who uses it.

MN Stat. 127A.05MN Dept of Education — Commissioner Authority
The Commissioner of Education serves at the direction of the Governor and is responsible for the general supervision of public education in Minnesota. The Governor directs the Commissioner to establish Workforce Pipeline track standards, Applied Academic credit equivalency frameworks, and literacy specialist deployment to the 15 highest-need counties. No additional legislative authorization is required for executive-directed program integration at the secondary level.
MN Stat. 120B.024Graduation Requirements — Applied Credits
The Commissioner of Education has authority to approve alternative credit pathways that meet academic standards. This directive invokes that authority to establish Applied Academic credit equivalency for all certified Workforce Pipeline training tracks — ensuring students on a trades path are not penalized in graduation requirements for work that demonstrably meets the underlying academic standard in mathematics, science, and English.
MN Stat. 116J.01DEED — Commissioner Authority
The Department of Employment and Economic Development is responsible for statewide workforce development policy under the direction of its Commissioner. The Governor directs DEED to establish the Partner Certification process, administer the State Liability Umbrella enrollment, oversee employment outcome tracking, and manage annual compliance audits. DEED already administers workforce development infrastructure — this directive activates it at scale for the pipeline model.
MN Stat. 176.011Workers' Compensation — Liability Framework
Minnesota's workers' compensation statutes provide the framework for state-administered coverage structures for specific worker categories. The Governor directs the Department of Labor and Industry to establish the Workforce Pipeline Student Liability Umbrella as primary workers' compensation and general liability coverage for enrolled students on certified partner job sites — removing the insurance cost barrier for small business partners at no additional premium to the employer.
MN Stat. 178.011–178.14Apprenticeship Programs
Minnesota's apprenticeship statutes establish a legal framework for employer-directed, competency-based workforce training with defined wage and standards requirements. The Workforce Pipeline is structured under this existing apprenticeship framework — extending it to 11th and 12th grade students and formalizing the employer partnership structure with tax incentive alignment and guaranteed employment outcomes.
MN Stat. 124D.4531Work-Based Learning
Minnesota law authorizes school districts to establish work-based learning programs connecting academic instruction to structured workplace experiences. This directive scales that existing authority into a unified statewide program with mandatory experience documentation, industry certification, Applied Academic credit recognition, and employment outcome standards. The legal authority is already there — it has never been used at this scale.
MN Stat. 124D.52Adult Basic Education — Literacy
Minnesota law authorizes the Department of Education to administer Adult Basic Education programs including foundational literacy intervention. The Governor directs the Commissioner to expand ABE-funded literacy specialist deployment to the 15 highest-need counties — using recovered Directive 01 funds and Directive 07 cannabis tax revenue to increase program capacity without reducing any existing education allocation.
MN Stat. 155ACosmetology Act — Board Authority
The Minnesota Board of Cosmetologist Examiners has statutory authority to set licensure hour requirements, administer examinations, and issue licenses for cosmetology and barbering. This directive designates the Board as the certifying body for Ownership Track students — aligning Pipeline training hours with the Board's existing 1,550-hour cosmetology and 1,500-hour barbering licensure requirements, so program completion and state licensure eligibility are achieved simultaneously.
MN Stat. 116J.8737Greater MN Business Development
Minnesota law establishes specific authority to direct economic development resources to Greater Minnesota communities. This directive invokes that authority to designate rural school districts as priority Workforce Pipeline implementation zones and to fund the Mobile Trade Unit program and Rural Transport Stipend through Directive 07 cannabis tax revenue — specifically for Iron Range, agricultural, and rural districts.
Opposition & Rebuttals

They Will Say
This. We Answer.

There will be arguments against this program. Most of them come from people with a financial or institutional interest in keeping every student on the four-year college track. Here is what they will say — and why they are wrong.

They Say
"This tracks poor kids and minority kids away from college and into manual labor."
My Answer
The current system already tracks students — it just does it without giving them a real option on the other side. A student who cannot afford college debt is already on a track. This program gives that student a genuine alternative that pays $67,000 a year starting out, with no debt and two years of documented experience. The only people calling trades work beneath certain students are the people who have never had to worry about affording a four-year degree. Respect is not giving every student the same path. Respect is making sure every student has a real one.
They Say
"This gives companies too much control over public education."
My Answer
Companies are not replacing the school. They are providing the industry expertise the school does not have. A high school teacher cannot tell a student what a construction company needs from a journeyman electrician. The electrician's employer can. The state sets the program standards, validates the process, audits compliance, and protects the student. The company contributes what only the company can contribute — knowledge of what the job actually requires. That is not control. That is collaboration. And it produces a graduate with a job instead of a graduate with a question mark.
They Say
"Tax incentives for companies are corporate welfare."
My Answer
A tax incentive with no return attached is corporate welfare. This is not that. Companies receive an incentive in exchange for a hiring commitment, a curriculum investment, liability umbrella participation, and an annual compliance audit. If they do not hire the graduates, they lose the incentive — retroactively. If they do hire them, Minnesota gains a trained worker in the workforce, a taxpayer contributing to the tax base, and one less teenager with no direction. That is not a giveaway. That is how you build a workforce.
They Say
"Students who do this program close the door on a college education."
My Answer
No. They do not. A student who completes the Workforce Pipeline has a job and no debt. A student with a job and no debt can save money and go to college later if they choose. What closes the door is forty thousand dollars in student loan debt before you have earned your first professional paycheck. The pipeline does not eliminate options. It adds one that the current system pretends does not exist.
They Say
"Literacy is a separate issue. Handle it separately."
My Answer
You cannot pass a certification exam you cannot read. You cannot advance in a trade you cannot document. Literacy is not separate from workforce development — it is the floor workforce development stands on. Deploying specialists to the 15 hardest-hit counties is not mission creep. It is making sure the pipeline we built actually works for the students it was designed to reach. If we build the program and ignore the literacy gap, we have built something that excludes the kids who need it most.
The Resident Solution Fund · Directive 03
How This
Gets Funded
The Workforce Pipeline program is funded through two existing revenue streams already authorized under The Resident Solution. This directive does not raid the education budget. It does not cut existing programs. It directs and allocates funds that are either recovered through Directive 01 or generated through Directive 07.
The tax incentives for partner companies are structured as credits against existing state tax obligations — the state does not write a check, it collects less on revenue already tied to the economic activity the company generates. Every trained worker that company employs increases that company's taxable output. The incentive pays for itself in the workforce productivity and tax base it produces.
01
Directive 01 Recovery Funds
Forensic audit recoveries deposited into the Resident Solution Fund are allocated in part to workforce development infrastructure — program administration, school district support, DEED oversight, training facility investment in Greater Minnesota priority zones, and literacy specialist deployment to the 15 highest-need counties.
07
Cannabis Market Tax Revenue
A dedicated portion of cannabis market tax revenue generated under Directive 07 is allocated to the Workforce Pipeline — covering Greater Minnesota incentive multipliers, Mobile Trade Units, Rural Transport Stipends, State Liability Umbrella administration, and the county-level literacy specialist program.
ROI
Workforce Return on Investment
Every graduate who enters the workforce as a trained tradesperson instead of an unemployed diploma-holder generates income tax revenue and reduces unemployment system draws. Every teenager redirected from the justice pipeline before it starts saves the state money it would have spent later. This program is self-reinforcing — the more graduates it produces, the more it pays back.
This directive allocates and directs existing and recoverable state funds. It does not cut or reduce any current K–12 education program, teacher position, school district allocation, or Adult Basic Education program. Workforce Pipeline and literacy funding is additive — built on top of the existing education investment, not drawn from it.
Executive Order — Establishing the Minnesota Workforce Pipeline Program
Ready for Signature · Day One
State of Minnesota Executive Department
Establishing the Minnesota Workforce Pipeline Program
Executive Order 27-03 · Governor Tom Berhane
Industry-Partnered Trades Education · Applied Academic Credits · Student Liability Coverage · Rural Access Provisions · Literacy Intervention for Highest-Need Counties
GovernorTom Berhane
DateJanuary 4, 2027
StatusDraft — Legal Review Pending
Directive03 of 13
Whereas
The State of Minnesota faces a documented and growing skilled trades workforce shortage, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development projecting more than 133,000 skilled trades job openings by 2030 across construction, manufacturing, energy, agriculture, and transportation sectors — positions that Minnesota's current education pipeline is not producing workers to fill;
Whereas
Minnesota high schools graduate thousands of students annually who lack industry-recognized credentials, documented work experience, or confirmed employment, and the resulting disengagement of young people without purpose or direction is a documented contributing factor to juvenile justice involvement, long-term unemployment, and economic instability in affected communities;
Whereas
Approximately 40 percent of Minnesota students who enroll in four-year institutions do not complete their degree, and the average Minnesota graduate who completes a four-year degree carries more than $31,000 in student loan debt — a financial burden the Workforce Pipeline eliminates entirely for trades-track graduates who begin their careers on the Monday after graduation;
Whereas
Minnesota's graduation credit requirements have historically failed to recognize the academic content embedded in skilled trades training — requiring students to fulfill duplicative coursework rather than acknowledging that Applied Academic competencies in mathematics, science, and communication are demonstrably present in certified trades instruction, and the Commissioner of Education has existing authority under MN Stat. 120B.024 to establish alternative credit pathways that correct this gap;
Whereas
Insurance liability costs for minor workers on active trade job sites represent the primary barrier preventing small businesses — which constitute the majority of the trades sector in Greater Minnesota — from participating in work-based learning programs, and a state-administered liability umbrella authorized under MN Stat. 176.011 removes that barrier without cost to the employer;
Whereas
Greater Minnesota communities face compounding barriers of geographic distance and transportation access that prevent rural students from participating in job-site training, which Mobile Trade Unit deployment and a Rural Transport Stipend — funded through Directive 07 cannabis tax revenue — directly address;
Whereas
Functional illiteracy among working-age adults and current high school students in Minnesota's highest-need counties — with PIAAC data indicating approximately 36 percent of Minnesota adults scoring below Level 2 literacy and county-level data showing approximately one in five working-age adults in high-poverty rural counties unable to pass a standard certification exam — represents a foundational barrier to workforce participation that no training program can overcome without targeted intervention;
Whereas
Minnesota Statutes Sections 124D.4531, 124D.52, 120B.024, 178.011–178.14, 176.011, 116J.01, 127A.05, 272.02, 290.06, and 116J.8737 provide existing statutory authority sufficient to implement every provision of this Order without additional legislative action;
Now Therefore, I, Tom Berhane, Governor of the State of Minnesota, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of this state, do hereby order as follows:
Establishment of the Minnesota Workforce Pipeline Program

There is hereby established within the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development the Minnesota Workforce Pipeline Program. The Program shall create a statewide framework for employer-partnered trades education for students in grades 11 and 12, providing structured hands-on training, Applied Academic graduation credits, state-backed liability coverage, industry certification, and guaranteed employment offers to qualifying graduates. The Program shall be administered jointly by DEED and the Minnesota Department of Education under a coordination agreement executed within 60 days of this Order.

Workforce Pipeline Partner Certification

DEED shall establish a Partner Certification process for Minnesota employers in eligible trades sectors. To become a certified Workforce Pipeline Partner, a company shall:

  • Submit a curriculum framework and industry certification standard to DEED for review and approval
  • Commit to employing qualifying graduates at wages not less than the sector-competitive starting rate as determined by DEED in consultation with the Department of Labor and Industry
  • Participate in the State Workforce Pipeline Liability Umbrella to ensure enrolled student coverage at no additional premium cost to the employer
  • Agree to annual compliance reporting on hiring outcomes, certification results, wage data, and curriculum currency
  • Acknowledge that failure to meet hiring commitments results in revocation of partner status and retroactive forfeiture of tax incentive eligibility

The Department of Revenue, in coordination with DEED and the legislature, shall establish the tax incentive structure for certified partners consistent with existing authority under MN Stat. 290.06 and related provisions.

Applied Academic Credit Recognition

The Commissioner of Education shall establish, within 90 days, Applied Academic credit equivalency standards for all certified Workforce Pipeline training tracks. Workforce Pipeline training hours shall count toward Minnesota graduation requirements in Mathematics, Science, and English where the curriculum demonstrably integrates those competency standards as determined by the Commissioner in consultation with partner companies and district curriculum coordinators. No student enrolled in a certified Workforce Pipeline program shall be required to complete duplicative theoretical coursework in subjects for which their Pipeline training demonstrably meets the underlying academic standard. Districts shall integrate Applied Academic credit recognition into student academic records by the fall 2027 academic year.

State Workforce Pipeline Student Liability Umbrella

The Commissioner of Labor and Industry shall establish, within 90 days, the Minnesota Workforce Pipeline Student Liability Umbrella — a state-administered coverage program providing primary workers' compensation and general liability coverage for students enrolled in certified Workforce Pipeline programs while engaged in training activities at partner company facilities or designated job sites. Coverage shall be funded through Directive 01 recovery funds and Directive 07 cannabis tax revenue as directed by the Department of Finance. No certified partner company shall bear additional insurance premium cost for enrolled students participating in official Pipeline training assignments.

Student Enrollment & Counseling Standards

The Commissioner of Education shall direct all Minnesota school districts to provide structured career counseling to students in grade 10 that presents the Workforce Pipeline program as a full and equal post-secondary pathway alongside college and other options. Enrollment is voluntary and requires informed consent of the student and parent or guardian. No student shall be assigned to the pipeline track without affirmative election. Districts shall make program information available in English and in the primary languages of enrolled families. Students in counties designated for literacy intervention shall receive foundational literacy screening and available support as a pre-enrollment resource — not as a condition or barrier to enrollment.

Greater Minnesota Priority — Mobile Trade Units & Rural Transport Stipend

School districts located in Greater Minnesota counties shall receive priority processing for Workforce Pipeline partnership approval and an enhanced incentive multiplier as established by the Department of Revenue. DEED, in coordination with the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board and the Office of Rural Affairs, shall:

  • Deploy Mobile Trade Units — fully equipped sector-specific training laboratories — to rural school districts where geographic distance makes regular partner site training impractical, with initial deployment prioritizing Iron Range and agricultural region districts
  • Establish the Rural Transport Stipend to cover transportation costs for enrolled students in Greater Minnesota whose distance from a certified partner site exceeds 15 miles and who lack reliable private transportation
  • Report annually to the Governor on geographic distribution of program participation and take corrective action if the program disproportionately concentrates in metropolitan school districts

Mobile Trade Unit deployment and Stipend funding shall be drawn from Directive 07 cannabis tax revenue as directed by the Department of Finance.

Literacy Specialist Deployment to Highest-Need Counties

The Commissioner of Education shall, within 60 days, identify the 15 Minnesota counties with the highest rates of functional illiteracy among working-age adults and current high school students using data from the National Center for Education Statistics, the PIAAC assessment, and the Department of Education's Adult Basic Education program records. The Commissioner shall deploy trained literacy specialists to those 15 counties — funded through a dedicated allocation from Directive 01 audit recovery funds and Directive 07 cannabis tax revenue — to provide:

  • Foundational literacy intervention for current high school students enrolled in or preparing to enroll in Workforce Pipeline programs
  • Adult Basic Education expansion for working-age residents whose functional literacy does not meet workforce certification standards
  • Annual public reporting on county literacy rates, specialist caseloads, and measurable participant outcomes

This deployment is authorized under and expands the existing Adult Basic Education framework of MN Stat. 124D.52. No existing Adult Basic Education program funding shall be reduced. This is an additive allocation directed to the highest-need communities in the state.

Cosmetology & Barbering — The Ownership Track

Cosmetology and barbering are hereby designated as eligible Workforce Pipeline trades sectors. The Minnesota Board of Cosmetologist Examiners shall serve as the certifying body for students enrolled in cosmetology and barbering Pipeline tracks, with program hours logged toward both the Workforce Pipeline experience record and the Board's licensure hour requirements under MN Stat. 155A. Students who complete a cosmetology or barbering Pipeline track and pass the Minnesota state board examination shall have two program exit options:

  • Accept a guaranteed employment offer from a certified partner salon or barbershop at a wage meeting the sector-competitive standard established by DEED
  • Apply for the Resident Solution Small Business Startup Grant to open an independently owned salon or barbershop

DEED shall establish the Resident Solution Small Business Startup Grant program for Ownership Track graduates, funded through Directive 01 audit recovery funds and Directive 07 cannabis tax revenue as directed by the Department of Finance. Grant eligibility shall require a valid Minnesota cosmetology or barbering license, the completed two-year Workforce Pipeline experience record, and a reviewed business plan. DEED's Small Business Development Centers shall provide pre-application business planning support to all eligible applicants at no cost. Grant amounts shall be set to cover realistic startup costs for a single-chair or small independent operation as determined by DEED in consultation with the Small Business Administration.

Training Documentation & Experience Records

DEED and the Department of Education shall jointly establish a statewide experience documentation system for Workforce Pipeline students. All training hours shall be logged in real time by both the school district and the partner company. Upon program completion, each student shall receive a verified skills transcript documenting hours completed, competencies achieved, Applied Academic credits earned, and certification status — recognized by all certified partner companies as satisfying their pre-employment experience requirements.

Annual Compliance Audit & Public Reporting

DEED shall conduct an annual compliance audit of all certified Workforce Pipeline Partners. Audit findings — including hiring outcome rates, certification pass rates, wage data, Applied Academic credit utilization, student demographic participation, and geographic distribution — shall be published publicly in plain language no later than 90 days after the end of each program year. Partners that fail to meet hiring commitments shall be placed on a 90-day remediation plan. Partners that fail to remediate shall have their certification revoked and their tax incentive eligibility terminated retroactively to the date of non-compliance.

Highly Mobile & Homeless Student Protections

The Commissioner of Education shall, within 60 days, issue statewide guidance establishing the following as conditions of state education and school safety funding:

  • All districts shall conduct a Supportive Intervention Review — including the McKinney-Vento Homeless Liaison — before any suspension or expulsion of an identified HHM student
  • The McKinney-Vento Homeless Liaison shall hold a permanent seat on all School Safety Advisory Councils and Threat Assessment Teams
  • All newly enrolled HHM students shall receive an individual emergency preparedness orientation within their first week of enrollment — conducted privately by designated staff, with no student-specific record created that identifies the student's HHM status or the content of the orientation
  • All state-funded anonymous tip line programs shall include physical in-school kiosk and landline access options
  • The Department of Education's McKinney-Vento State Coordinator shall serve as binding arbiter of inter-district transportation disputes for HHM students, with a 72-hour resolution requirement
  • A State Transportation Bridge Fund is hereby established to cover HHM transportation costs during active district disputes, with cost recovery from the responsible district upon resolution
  • Each district shall designate a single HHM transportation point of contact responsible for resolving transportation issues without inter-departmental delay
  • Annual mandatory training on HHM identification, trauma-informed response, and McKinney-Vento obligations is required for all teachers, administrators, counselors, and support staff
  • The Department of Education shall establish a statewide student mobility flag system — designed in compliance with FERPA — that notifies the receiving district's McKinney-Vento Liaison in real time when an enrolling student's record indicates housing instability

Existing Safe Schools grant allocations shall be weighted using a High-Mobility Multiplier beginning with the next grant cycle, directing proportionally greater resources to districts where HHM students exceed 10% of enrollment. A full per-pupil Safe Schools funding increase is a legislative priority of this administration.

Effective Date & Implementation

This Executive Order is effective immediately upon signing. DEED and the Department of Education shall submit a joint implementation plan to the Governor's Office within 45 days. The State Liability Umbrella and Applied Academic credit standards shall be operational before the first student cohort begins training. The first cohort of Workforce Pipeline students shall begin training no later than the academic year beginning fall 2027. Nothing in this order diminishes any existing secondary education program, teacher position, school district funding allocation, or Adult Basic Education program. Every provision of this directive is additive.

A determination that any provision of this Executive Order is invalid will not affect the enforceability of any other provision of this Executive Order. Rather, the invalid provision will be modified to the extent necessary so that it is enforceable.
______________________________
Tom Berhane
Governor, State of Minnesota
Signed January 4, 2027
______________________________
[Secretary of State]
Secretary of State, State of Minnesota
Filed According to Law
This Is
Directive 03

There is a kid in Minnesota right now who is good with their hands, works hard, and has no idea what comes next. This directive answers that question — with a job offer, not a brochure. And for the kid who cannot get there yet because no one ever taught them to read well enough, we fix that too.

Stand With The Resident Solution
The Resident Solution Campaign  ·  Minnesota  ·  Directive 03 of 13