A nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism

First Lift the TriState class graduates Friday; program designed to boost logistics and warehouse industry


Nine participants will graduate from the first LIFT the TriState class Friday in a ceremony in the Convening Center at the Gateway Community & Technical College, Boone Campus.

Over the past 12 weeks, LIFT participants have received classroom instructions, soft skills training and hands-on experience to prepare them for employment in the logistics and warehouse industry

Specific topics that the program focuses on include distribution, material handling, warehouse management, PIT equipment, and contexts involving food and hazardous materials.

The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Department for the Commonwealth of Kentucky estimate jobs in the transportation/warehousing industry in the tri-state area will increase 7 percent by the year 2022.

The LIFT the TriState program will help fill that need by developing a qualified workforce from people who may not currently have the skill set to earn a living wage.

Students in the program work at the Northern Kentucky Freestore Foodbank Distribution Center from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. They also spend time at the Life Learning Center where they create a vision for their future and receive help implementing it.

In Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, the transportation and logistics industry accounts for more than 71,000 jobs, or 7.3 percent of the region’s workforce. Those statistics helped demonstrate the crucial for a program to train and prepare candidates with the necessary resources and skill sets to fill that unemployment gap now and in the future.

In May, the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet announced Freestore Foodbank would receive $267,000 in funds, through the Work Ready Skills Initiative, to purchase the upgraded training equipment needed to help implement the program. The grant was part of a $33.1 million second round of funding from the Cabinet to encourage the development of a highly-skilled workforce to fill jobs in the advanced manufacturing, healthcare, technology, construction and transportation sectors.

LIFT the TriState is a collaboration between the Freestore Foodbank, BelFlex Staffing Network, Life Learning Center and Gateway Community and Technical College. In addition to the funding from the Work Ready Skills Initiative, the McCaw Family Charitable Fund, the Greater Cincinnati Foundation and anonymous donors help support the program.

The next LIFT class begins on January 8, 2018. For more information or to apply, click here.


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