CareerForce Spotlight: Southwest Minnesota Private Industry Council

This week, the CareerForce spotlight is on the Southwest Minnesota Private Industry Council! Staff members at SWPIC, as they are known, have partnered with local organizations to help serve area residents who speak languages other than English, meet the needs of local health care providers, educational institutions, employers and more.

There are very diverse counties in Southwest Minnesota, including Nobles County, the second most diverse county in the state of Minnesota. It is estimated that there are 84 different languages and/or dialects spoken in Nobles County. Nearly a third of the residents speak a language other than English at home. A significant number of new immigrants in the community rely on interpreters or community connectors to navigate vital program services including county services, legal services, health services, and assistance with searching and applying for employment. With record setting low unemployment rates and a significant labor shortage, employers in the region are hiring more immigrants. They too have a great need for interpreters. To address the significant need of the new immigrants in the community, the great need for employees, and to create a career pathway that is in high-demand, good paying, and capitalizes on the strengths of our job seekers, SWPIC, in collaboration with its partners, facilitated the Certified Community Interpreter Training.

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