Golden Path Solutions Newsletter – August 2025

by | Aug 11, 2025 | Blog, News | 0 comments

Greetings from the Golden Path Solutions team!

Keep reading for more information about our new partnerships and members of our Golden Path community, a new online Compass class for educators, a call for high-demand industry internships for college students, exciting news from some of our partners, and more.

Let’s get to it!

New partnership with Detroit Lakes Chamber features membership discount

Golden Path is now partnering with the Detroit Lakes (MN) Regional Chamber of Commerce to help employer members create more connections with local students. We’ve been working with Detroit Lakes High School for the past two years to support career exploration and work-based learning activities for students, and this partnership will take that to the next level. Chamber members will receive discounts on Golden Path’s more advanced employer memberships to help them highlight specific careers and relationships to regional colleges, incentives they are offering to students for tuition reimbursement or scholarships, and to drive more connections with students. We think partnerships between chambers, employers, and schools drive the best outcomes for communities and for students, and we’re excited help this happen in Detroit Lakes. To learn more, read our recent blog post or contact  Jackie Buboltz with the Chamber or Patrick Mineer at Golden Path Solutions.

ND Educational Hub Compass course now available

Golden Path Solutions is proud to offer a new online class about how to use our application Compass for the Four-Year Rolling Plan for North Dakota students! “Managing the Four-Year Rolling Plan in Compass” is now available in the ND Educational Hub. The course highlights how to use Compass for the plan, as well as other benefits of Compass and RUReady.ND.gov, including career exploration, learning more about employers, careers, and college programs, and participating in work-based Learning.

The online course is available to North Dakota school professionals and is asynchronous and self-paced. The course modules feature short videos and walkthroughs, hands-on activities and assignments, and discussion prompts. Upon completion, educators will receive one professional development credit from Valley City State University. For more information, read our recent blog post or contact Kevin Leier at ND Educational Hub or Patrick Mineer at Golden Path Solutions.

Seeking internships for Bismarck State College students

Golden Path is working closely with Bismarck (ND) State College (BSC) to expand high-quality internship opportunities for its enrolled students. As part of this effort, we’re focusing on partnerships with employers in key, high-demand industries across the region, including automotive transportation and construction; communication, art, and design; cybersecurity and computer information technology; energy; health sciences; and manufacturing and automation.

We are looking for employers who represent these industries and are interested in connecting with BSC students this fall. Simply create and publish your internships in Compass by the end of August to ensure visibility in time for the new semester. If you already have internships for high school students in Compass, you can copy your opportunity, set the audience to “College Students,” and hit publish. Please contact us if you need help setting up your opportunities.

Concordia College joins Compass to highlight programs to high school students

We recently welcomed Concordia College in Moorhead as the first private four-year college to use the online platform Compass to highlight its programs to high school students, including programs in theater, music, and liberal arts, as well as healthcare, finance, and social work.

“There’s a lot to consider when choosing what to do after high school,” says Ben Iverson, vice president for Enrollment at Concordia. “We’re happy to join the Compass platform to showcase what Concordia has to offer to help students find the right fit for their passions and career goals.”  Explore Concordia’s profile in Compass.

One of our goals at Golden Path is to offer opportunities for every kind of student with every kind of interest. Having Concordia on board helps us realize that vision. We’re excited to work with them in addition to our other five postsecondary partners. Learn more by reading our recent press release.

Learn more about our partner Job Service of North Dakota

Students are the future of North Dakota and Job Service North Dakota (JSND) has long recognized the need to support opportunities for students to explore career fields and demonstrate their skills in an authentic workplace setting. JSND offers a variety of programs for workforce integration. Golden Path is working with the JSND team to drive more opportunities for students and to raise awareness with employers on how these strategies can foster workforce development. Some of the options JSND supports include:

Paid work experiences

Through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), eligible youth can receive up to 25 hours/week of paid work experience, up to a maximum of 1,040 hours/year. This unique opportunity allows youth to gain hands-on experience.

On-the-job training

The WIOA program offers on-the-job training (OTJ) opportunities to eligible participants by paying 50% of their wages for up to six months. OJT is a simple and effective way to bridge the gap between academic learning and industry.

Check the box for work-based learning

JSND is excited to introduce a new feature within North Dakota’s largest ad-free jobs database. Employers can now “check the box” to identify work-based learning opportunities! Students and schools can visit the database for updates and we’ll be sure to also add those opportunities to Compass.

Watch for upcoming additional information on these opportunities with JSND or contact your local JSND office today.

Welcome to new organizations and schools

We’re onboarding more new schools and employers to Copass this month. Watch for new Career Profiles from 702 Communications, North Dakota Department of Transportation, H.A. Thompson & Sons, The STEM Practice, Butler Machinery, RDO Equipment, Red Rock Auto, and more. We’re excited to start our work with Delta Constructors and the North Dakota Army National Guard and Air National Guard in Compass, highlighting their organizations, careers, and incentives. We’re also working with Moorhead (MN) Area Public Schools and Cherokee County School District in South Carolina.

Recent regional conferences helped build connections

We love building connections at conferences and are thankful for two recent opportunities: the South Dakota ACTE Summer 2025 Conference at the end of July and the NDCTE 2025 CTE Professional Development Conference in early August. One of the best parts of our work is developing relationships with the hundreds of people making a difference for our students and the future of our region, and these conferences are a great way to make new friends and to see old ones. We had a great time sharing more information about our features, talking about new initiatives, getting feedback on how we can make our system better, and making connections. That’s ultimately what it’s all about, and we are excited to start another year working with stakeholders across the region.

New features added in Compass

Your Compass experience now includes these new features:

    • New options in our Connections Database for employers willing to work with justice-involved students, to include students with special needs, or to allow job coaches on site
    • Allowing for more signers with our agreements
    • A new student home page
    • A new look and feel for Career Profiles
    • Integration with Google for single sign-on
    • Programs of Study management and tracking
    • Job Shadow management and scheduling (including electronic agreements)

Watch for more details about these new features!

Exciting news from our partners

We enjoy celebrating the news, activities, and important events of our partners. Here are some recent highlights:

    • The Career Impact Academy (CIA) in Grand Forks opens Aug. 13. The CA is designed to prepare students for high-demand, high-paying careers through hands-on learning and strong community partnerships.
    • The Career Innovation Center (CIC) in Fargo opens Aug 18. The CIC is a partnership between North Dakota State College of Science (NDSCS) in Wahpeton and local school districts, including West Fargo Public Schools, Fargo Public Schools, Northern Cass School District, and Central Cass School District. Designed as a center of innovation, career exploration, and hands-on learning, the CIC will provide high school and college students with opportunities to build in-demand skills while connecting with employers.
    • NDSCS recently launched its new Aviation Maintenance Technology program. As the only FAA-certified Aviation Maintenance Technology (AMT) program in Fargo, NDSCS will prepare students for the high-paying, in-demand field of aviation maintenance.

    Students receive full tuition coverage for nursing apprenticeship with Altru and Lake Region State College

    Two recent Grand Forks, ND, high school graduates are headed directly into a nursing apprenticeship program this fall and will be licensed nursing professionals (LPNs) by the following spring.

    Thanks to college credit coursework while still in high school, mentorship from their career counselor, and a strong drive to reach their career goals, they are the first high school students to be accepted directly into this program. The apprenticeship includes full tuition coverage, paid clinicals and work experience, and a promised job upon completion.

    “The day I start classes, I’ll also start as a nurse’s aide,” says Brooklyn Johnson, one of the new apprentices. “I’m ecstatic to get into the hospital right away and work my way up through different positions. I won’t have to worry about trying to navigate all of this after I graduate college.”

    Read more about this partnership between Lake Region State College’s satellite nursing program and Altru Health System, both in Grand Forks.

    Let us know about your events

    If you have an event that you want us to include in our newsletter, please send us a note at info@goldenpath.net. If you are an employer and want to publish your event to schools and students, remember that you can do that through Compass. If you’re an educator wanting to invite employers to a school event (like a career fair or expo), you can do that in Compass too, choosing the employers you invite by industry, name, career cluster, or distance from you.

    Important dates

    Connect with us

    Keep up with the latest opportunities and information here:

    More information

    Contact Patrick for more information or to connect about opportunities with Golden Path Solutions.