Families, friends, and representatives from Hired, Minnesota Department of Economic Development (DEED), Normandale Community College, Polar Semiconductor, Seagate and Skywater Technology gathered last week at Normandale Community College to celebrate 16 graduates from the inaugural Semiconductor Technician Career Pathways Program.

The earn-and-learn program was funded by Drive for Five, a competitive grant from DEED. Participants engaged in 10 months of work, readiness, college credit, and pre-apprenticeship career training in advanced manufacturing.

“This is such a pivotal effort, because it brings government, education, and industry to the table to solve some of these harder problems to make sure we are getting workers into the workforce,” said Marc Majors, deputy commissioner for workforce development for DEED. “Thank you to all of the partners who played a key role in making sure this program happens. Congratulations to the graduates for believing in themselves, persevering, and creating a pathway that can lead to a career. This is a career with family sustainable wages, and one that will help you build generational wealth for your family moving forward.”

The program started with career discovery sessions, including a three-week job readiness course with Hired, and moved into paid pre-apprenticeships with one of the three employee partners (Polar Semiconductor, Seagate Technology, Skywater Technology).

“What is great about coming together in this way of a customized, and really entrepreneurial career pathway, is that its accelerating training through an earn-and-learn model to help people succeed,” said Hired CEO Julie Brekke.  “You have all the partners at the table who are really caring about the participant/intern experience, and what happens next. It is about career exposure and discovery. We are here to support people to be successful, and it takes amazing partners like this to do it together.”

As the educational partners, Normandale provided 12 college credit courses for the participants while they were working. The graduates had a chance to earn a Certified Production Technician (CPT) credential, which provides long-term career options for them in Minnesota’s growing semiconductor and advanced manufacturing sectors.

“This is a perfect example of everyone coming together to lift our community and support all of the graduates,” Normandale Community College Interim President Pakou Yang said. “Normandale is deeply committed to workforce development and making sure we are serving our business, industry partners and community needs.”

Exposure to a dynamic field

Program graduate Daniel Sanchez went to high school at Cretin Derham Hall and worked as a waiter and supervisor at La Grolla restaurant on Cathedral Hill. He was unsure of the direction of his career, but knew he wanted to study in college and wanted to work in technology.

While he was looking around for a program and opportunity, he stumbled on to Hired offering a program called semiconductor advanced manufacturing with an opportunity to work an apprenticeship in the semiconductor industry and started the program in July 2024.

“This was a great opportunity, as I wanted to study while I was working and contribute towards a career path,” said Sanchez.

With excitement, he entered the cleanroom as an operator. Sanchez was enamored by the innerworkings of the cleanroom and all the moving parts around it. Handling and working with the semiconductor wafers was compelling, as it is found in all types of technology products today, and continues to innovate future products.

As the internship neared its end, he was exposed to a lot of great opportunities within the company. Sanchez is currently in the process of becoming a technician.

“I want to continue to contribute to the semiconductor industry, as it is a dynamic field that is growing here in Minnesota’s technology sector,” said Sanchez. “It has been about a year since I started this program, which is a great opportunity. We started as students, but are now contributors to a vital industry. At Seagate (my employer), we didn’t just learn how chips were made, but how great teams work, problems are solved, and how innovation never sleeps.”

“We started with something that began with this Chips Act over two years ago,” said Polar Semiconductor former Senior Director of Human Resources Deborah Roberts. “The Drive for Five grant brought us all under the same arch, and gave us something to work with for funding, a concept and a vision. We brought all of those partners together, and started bringing ideas and concepts out, and knowledge-share. … It is emotional to see the first graduation milestone, and to feel and hear what it was like for everyone who went through the program. We appreciate and celebrate all of the individuals who have graduated from the program, and the courage it took to make the decision to pursue it.”

All 16 graduates are launching new careers, including offers of new roles with the three employee partners. This partnership was founded on all of the partner’s mutual desires to ensure that everyone has access to a job with family-sustaining wages, a chance to pursue a career they are passionate about, and the opportunity to build wealth for future generations. It also aligns with Normandale’s values of limitless human potential realized.

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