To fulfill the employment and training needs of current and future companies at Logistics Park Kansas City (LPKC) in Edgerton, Kansas, Johnson County Community College (JCCC) has joined with several partners to form the Learning & Career Center at LPKC.
The partners will host a free open house for the public at the new Learning & Career Center from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 30750 W. 193rd St. in Edgerton. Information about the center will be provided and local employers will be on hand to discuss job opportunities at LPKC.
The center will begin offering classes in early November, providing training for the thousands of jobs expected to become available when LPKC is fully developed. Classes will include warehousing and logistics, OSHA compliant forklift training, personal development and workplace skills and a commercial truck-driving school. For more information regarding training, please call (913)469-3836 or visit www.jccc.edu/lpkc.
“When the logistics park is at full capacity, there will be a tremendous need for workers,” said Debbie Rulo, who is leading the learning center initiative for JCCC as director of Continuing Education. “The whole idea is to fulfill the gap for these businesses going in around the intermodal facility as well as to provide training to the surrounding communities.”
LPKC is a 1,500-acre master-planned distribution and warehouse development anchored by BNSF Railway’s newest state-of-the-art intermodal facility. It is being developed by NorthPoint Development, which is building the Learning & Career Center at no cost to JCCC or the other partners.
“Participating in the Learning & Career Center at LPKC is a labor of love,” said John Thomas, vice president of NorthPoint Development. “We are abundantly aware and appreciative of the public partners that have made LPKC a reality. Behind those public partners are real people with real aspirations and real dreams for the future. The Learning & Career Center is a chance to fulfill one of the great promises of LPKC as a logistics and employment hub. As the private development partner at LPKC, NorthPoint is thrilled about this proactive step to ensure a well-qualified labor pool into the future.”
JCCC will provide direction, coordination and administrative support for the development and ongoing operations of the 5,000 square-foot training center. JCCC is designing the program around the current and future workforce, providing training and talent needs of companies at LPKC and in the surrounding area.
“Johnson County Community College is enthusiastic to be a part of the Learning & Career Center initiative,” said JCCC board trustee Jerry Cook. “This endeavor reflects JCCC’s agility within corporate and civic partnerships as we uphold our commitment to meeting the community’s workforce education needs. The efficiencies gained through partnerships like this help our students be successful.”
Other partners in the venture are the City of Edgerton, Workforce Partnership, BNSF Railway and the Southwest Johnson County Economic Development Corporation.
With a dedicated onsite staffing specialist at LPKC, Workforce Partnership will provide free employer services such as online job postings, job-seeker screening, recruiting and events (informational sessions and job fairs), assessments, subsidized work-based learning, labor market information, salary compensation analysis and job description development.
Several companies at LPKC have been involved with the formation of the training center and have expressed interest in using its services, including DEMDACO, Smart Warehousing, Kubota and Flexsteel.