The Duluth Chamber of Commerce is partnering with local colleges, Duluth Workforce Development and APEX. This collaboration includes the Duluth Public School District to create a new strategy called the Duluth Promise.

The plan of action is preparing young adults to have thriving careers with local employers in the Duluth area. Duluth Public School District Superintendent John Magas says the Duluth Promise will help create a scaffolding of success for students.

“We want to make sure that we’re working with our businesses from the get-go. To make sure that this is the core of what this looks like. That we’re responsive to the business needs, as well as the student needs,” Magas said. “Career pathways are in almost every school district. But what we’re really envisioning here is a robust pipeline of on-ramps and off-ramps for students, so that they can develop as their career develops. So they are ready for whatever job is before them as they go.”

The Duluth Promise is still relatively new, but it’s already helping current students with career training. Core Lord is from Hermantown High School and involved in Lake Superior Community College’s P-S-E-O. She says thanks to the connections made through the Duluth Promise she’s already has a career lined up for the future.

“I discovered that I wanted to do marketing in business. That is like a backbone to a lot of companies. I recently just got hired for a marketing internship and it’s for a tech company,” Lord said. “You might think, ‘Oh, I have to have a huge background in science’ and everything like that. But no, that is still such a crucial thing for these businesses”

Duluth’s local employers are in high-demand of new workers. Some of these career fields are health care, manufacturing, and business finance. Another LSC student, Noah Abernathy, says students in high school should take the time to find out what their interests are so they can used it as a catalyst for finding a successful job.

“If they continue to like it and take interest in it then make that a career path. That’s kind of what I did with Cirrus,” Abernathy said. “When I first got there I was really just like, ‘Holy smokes, this is a lot of stuff.’ But eventually it dimmed down and I’m like, “I want to be here. If everything still works out right and is good, I want to stay in Duluth.”

Local legislators in the Duluth area have also introduced two bills in the Minnesota state senate and house to provide more funding for the Duluth promise.