Retail is often people’s first entrance into the workforce. RISE Up teaches all of those career success skills that they [students] will have for life and be able to take anywhere. It’s an industry-recognized credential that they’re earning before they actually graduate from college.” – Leslie Wojtowicz, Development Manager, Central Minnesota Jobs and Training Services Inc.
In 2017, Central Minnesota Jobs and Training Services worked with the Walmart Foundation to launch a partnership with the NRF Foundation’s RISE Up training and credential program to bring retail skills training to students at Ridgewater College in Willmar, Minn. Since then, over 100 students have successfully completed RISE Up’s Customer Service and Sales training and gained valuable skills that will strengthen their resumes, no matter the career path they choose. "Those skills can benefit you in anything you go into,” says Ridgewater student Ashley Hartsuiker, “from welding to marketing to being a teacher.”
Watch the video below to learn more about the students’ experiences and how the NRF Foundation’s RISE Up program is transforming the way they view retail.