3M Brownwood (3M) received the Employer Award of Excellence for the Workforce Solutions of West Central Texas (West Central) area at the Texas Workforce Commission’s (TWC) 15th Annual Texas Workforce Conference held November 30 – December 2 in Houston.  The Employer Award of Excellence honors employers that are actively involved with their local workforce board and have made a positive impact on employers, workers and the community.

3M has directly assisted in implementing several education initiatives in the Brownwood Independent School District (BISD).  3M financed a robotics station that was added to BISD’s Career Portal Lab.  3M was also a founding member of the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce Education/Workforce Solutions Committee of Brown County, which strives to improve the availability of future employees from local school districts.  As a direct result of 3M’s involvement, a new career and technical education pathway in manufacturing was established at the high school level.  3M actively participates in workforce initiatives like Career Pathways and posts jobs on WorkInTexas.com.  The company is also participating in West Central’s Detailed Work Activities Skill Articulation Project to improve alignment of career and technical education skills with industry requirements.

“Local workforce boards are at their best when they support and facilitate the efforts of private employers,” said TWC Chairman Tom Pauken.  “I wish to commend 3M Brownwood and Workforce Solutions West Central Texas for their commitment to develop creative solutions in their region.  Their partnership has benefitted the local community, employers, and job seekers.”

Workforce Solutions of West Central Texas is one of 28 local workforce boards located throughout the state.  West Central serves Brown, Callahan, Coleman, Comanche, Eastland, Fisher, Haskell, Jones, Kent, Knox, Mitchell, Nolan, Runnels, Scurry, Shackelford, Stephens, Stonewall, Taylor and Throckmorton counties.  The primary goal of TWC and the workforce boards is to respond to needs of Texas employers and workers through locally designed market-driven workforce development initiatives and services.  All employers, workers and job seekers are eligible to take advantage of these services.

Pictured above is Gregg Rice, Human Resource Manager 3-M Brownwood.