Hinds works closely with KLLM Transport Services, Empire Truck Sales, Stribling Equipment and Continental Tire, among other partners, to create the specific kind of training they need for current and future employees. In turn, the partners provide crucial resources that enhance the training experience and help support the financial responsibility of the college.
Both parties have a distinctive role to play, and neither could be as successful without the other.
“The secret sauce,” said David Creel, Associate Vice President of Workforce Development, “is the relationships the partners have with some of us as individuals and the relationship they have with Hinds, its students and the instructors. We’re leading in a lot of areas, compared to other institutions. This is why we can.”
The college’s partnerships with these industry leaders grew out of a need the companies had for trained employees. Hinds worked with them to craft training structures and time schedules that fit their needs, not traditional academic schedules.