After receiving $388,000 in ARPA funds, Great Falls College MSU will officially start their CDL Program in August 2022.
A class was held at Bouma Truck Sales on Tuesday evening teaching students some hands-on skills.
GFC-MSU Lifelong Learning Interim Director Tammie Hickey stated, "With the phone calls we get from people interested in getting this training to have this career, we'd love to expand to maybe offering dual enrollment down the line for those seniors to get them thinking about this as possible career, so I think the sky's the limit, really."
Classes will be offered monthly with the next class beginning August 15. Deadline for application and pre-requisite documents is August 10.
Informational sessions will be held monthly to go over application, pre-requisites, class format, funding resources, and job placement details.
GFC-MSU will have day and evening class options. Theory portion with permit testing takes about 3.5 weeks. Behind-the-wheel will take anywhere from two weeks to a month to complete.
The cost of the class will be $3,500 which includes books, testing fees, First Aid/CPR certification, work ethic training, and job placement assistance.
Classes are a hybrid format. There are required on-campus class days in addition to online modules that are completed outside of class.
The $388,000 will be used to purchase a simulator to assist in their training. They will also look at truck/trailer for onsite and other equipment we will need to offer the best training in the state.
The framework of this training is truly collaborative since the college does not currently own a truck.
Hickey explained, "It was the business community that approached us, that said this is a high need, so as we did our research, the college is fantastic about responding to industry need, whether it's that short term workforce training that we do in our program, or some of our degree programs. Doing that research, getting an advisory board together, that was comprised of those in the industry, the Chamber of Commerce convened and reached out to their business, so it's very much been collaborative. We've been building this together. So having the funds from the commissioners is huge. We're so thankful."
The college is a registered training provider with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and partnering businesses will be listed as an additional location under the ELDT registry.
For more information, you can call the college at 406.771.5104, or visit the website.
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