UMKC TalentLink Executive Director Jake Akehurst (left) and WorkForge CEO Nathan Walts (right) presented veteran Brenten Taylor with a certificate of completion at the recent Greater Kansas City Veterans Career Fair.  

UMKC TalentLink partners with WorkForge to provide online manufacturing skills training. When the opportunity arose to work with Veterans Community Project (VCP), Akehurst and UMKC TalentLink Business Development Director Candice Haines suggested that a WorkForge course might be a good fit. VCP assisted Taylor with services, including support as he completed the 19-hour WorkForge manufacturing course, Introduction to Manufacturing Careers, available through UMKC TalentLink.   

“At the Veterans Community Project transitional living program, we work with veterans to achieve sustainable housing in the future by overcoming their present barriers to housing. We assist veterans by moving them into their own tiny house which offers stabilization. Then we offer case management services that focus on their fiscal understanding, network of support, education, training, health, and wellness,” says Casey Porter, residential case manager with Veterans Community Project. 

Porter shared how skills training could provide benefit to a veteran like Brenten seeking to upskill or add a new skill for a manufacturing trade.  

“Brenten is a great example of how UMKC TalentLink’s program offering WorkForge courses can impact not only an individual’s knowledge of workplace skills, but also expose them to careers they didn’t think were accessible,” says Porter.  

Porter adds, “For example, Brenten completed the course. He then quickly realized how having a baseline knowledge of manufacturing made becoming aerospace assembly technician a viable career option in the future. Without this program, he wouldn’t have seen a clear road to an advanced career in aerospace.” 

Aerospace training is one of several WorkForge manufacturing skills training courses available through UMKC TalentLink. Other online training includes Computer Numerical Control (CNC), Food Safety and Production, Industrial Maintenance, Robotics, and Welding.  

“WorkForge’s career pathways play a crucial role in propelling veterans, active military personnel, and those aspiring to upskill or learn a new skill in manufacturing toward success,” says Walts. “With an unwavering commitment to excellence, WorkForge not only provides essential skills such as production welding but also empowers these dedicated individuals to pave the way for new opportunities and a brighter future.” 

UMKC TalentLink works with businesses and nonprofits like Veterans Community Project to introduce affordable, short-term learning that can help individuals gain practical workplace skills. Manufacturing skills training is only one type of offering that can help people upskill or gain a skill. For example, UMKC TalentLink also offers soft skills training to complement more technical knowledge-based skills learning. 

“While this partnership [with UMKC TalentLink] is still new, we at VCP can already see the value it has based on one veteran’s positive experience with the program and people at UMKC TalentLink and WorkForge,” says Porter. 

Haines says, “We are proud to partner with VCP’s Career Support Services to provide educational opportunities to their veterans and were excited to award to a certificate of completion to Brenten Taylor.” 

Contact UMKC TalentLink for more information about workforce training for nonprofit and business employees.