FELLING TRAILERS PARTNERS
WITH LOCAL SCHOOLS
TO SPARK INTEREST IN
MANUFACTURING
In 2011, when Ben Myhre was hired for
a welding position at Felling Trailers. He
never imagined, 6-1/2 years later, he would
be teaching a weld training course to
classrooms of fellow employees and high
school students.
of them had any formal training on
welding. They all were super eager
to learn. The high school kids came
in with a much higher technical
knowledge base with most them
having previously completed welding
courses in school,” said Myhre.
In 2016, Myhre was approached by Felling
Trailers Ownership and asked to take part
in the creation of the company’s Weld
Training Center. Myhre worked with Jake
Fisher; an Industrial Technology teacher
at Sauk Centre High School to create a
structured curriculum for high school
students based off Felling Trailers’ welding
curriculum. “Manufacturing skills are vital to our
success. We wanted to see what we
could do to help students see and
experience the opportunities in their
backyard,” said Brenda Jennissen, CEO
of Felling Trailers. “Our mission for
this program is to provide high school
students and employees with the
skills and tools needed to succeed in
our growing manufacturing business
through career experiences that are
both hands on and real world.”
“I had a great mix of students in the first
run. All the students had some welding
experience, and some had more than
others. One thing is for certain: none With the first year of Felling Trailers’
Weld Training Program in the books
and a great success, the spark remains
strong.
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More trailer news on page 26
NATDA Magazine www.natda.org