By SHELLY STRAUTZ-SPRINGBORN
Michigan Correspondent

EAST LANSING, Mich. — After being laid off from his 13-year welding job, Clinton Boyd, 46, headed back to school.

But, he didn’t go to a traditional classroom setting. Instead, the Army veteran was one of 12 participants last fall in a four-week pilot program, Vets to Ag, which was aimed at retraining unemployed, homeless United States Veterans. Working in partnership, Michigan State University and the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth (DELEG) are preparing to launch a second round of the program in February at Kellogg Biological Station in Hickory Corners.

The first round of the Vets to Ag program was completed in October when 12 veterans were trained to work on a Christmas tree farm. In addition to specific skills needed to work on the farm, participants were schooled in plant and soil sciences, equipment operation and general agricultural knowledge – all applicable to work in other agricultural commodity areas.

Michele Walker, assistant to the deputy director of DELEG’s Bureau of Workforce Transformation, said the second Vets to Ag group will receive similar training, but the pool of potential employers has been expanded.

“The second cohort is based on the same premise as the first one,” she said. “The training will consist of topics in the agricultural industry. This time we are looking at employers in the golf industry, meat packing and floral.”

Curriculum changes are being made to prepare the students for positions in these areas. For example, pesticide certification training will help the students gain skills necessary for employment at a golf course or greenhouse.

“It’s a wonderful program,” Walker said. “The fact that we are contributing to the livelihood of homeless veterans and giving them some key tools they can use to find self-sustaining employment is part of our goal and part of the Governor’s goal as part of No Worker Left Behind.

“This is an opportunity for these people to get a new start and gain some valuable training in Michigan’s second largest industry – agriculture,” Walker said.

Eunice Foster, director of MSU’s Institute for Agricultural Technology, said the pilot program “was successful,” but some changes will be made for the second round of training in an effort to better meet the needs of both the workers and employers.

“With any pilot program you learn from it,” Foster said. “One of the things we learned is there have to be greater wrap-around services provided.”

Dutchman Tree Farms in Cadillac hired some of the trainees from the first class to help with Christmas tree harvest last fall.
“I think the program is great, and I believe in the program,” said Joel Hoekwater, the farm’s co-owner.

However, he hopes changes in the program will help future workers be better prepared – both in job skills and also to help them adapt to relocating to new geographic areas.

“They needed to learn some new skills once they go to the farm,” he said. “What we do is all physical labor. The work is hard. They just weren’t prepared for it.”

Hoekwater said the employees “were out of their
element,” being moved from the city of Detroit to rural northern Michigan.

“The culture part of it – being away from the city – was hard on them,” he said. “The timing was difficult, too. It was our really busy time on the farm. There’s nothing to do up here, but work.”
Foster said program organizers have been working to identify employment opportunities closer to home to help make the transition easier.

In addition, Foster said modifications are being made to the program to provide more complete training.

“We are extending the length of the program,” Foster said. “We are making sure we are considering all of the different opportunities and different areas to enhance success – success is completing the program and also becoming gainfully employed.”
“It is through programs like Vets to Ag, where Michigan State University proves its ability to be flexible to meet the needs of the worker and the employer,” said MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Dean Jeffrey Armstrong. “It is truly the role of a land-grant institution to connect a workforce with employers who need them.”