Working with all of you enables us to form some pretty incredible partnerships – collaborations that benefit everyone involved, from students to employers and school professionals to community members.
In this month’s newsletter, we’re highlighting several recent partnerships, as well as some new features in Compass and other related updates.
Here’s what’s new in February:
Testing new Compass college student features with Bismarck State College
We’re excited to announce a pilot with Bismarck (ND) State College (BSC) aimed at boosting program visibility while connecting students to employers and career opportunities through Compass. Recent development work will enable BSC students to access valuable career, employer, and amenity information via a dedicated BSC URL. Students can create accounts tied to the college, build profiles, and explore opportunities alongside BSC career advisors – similar to how high school professionals use Compass with their students.
BSC can also share program details, employer partnerships, and college incentives directly on their website, reaching those curious about opportunities without requiring a Compass login. When individuals are ready to dive deeper – whether to discover career matches, apply for opportunities, or connect with school representatives – they can create a Compass account and get started. High school students can explore additional details through their own Compass account or RUReady.ND.gov.
This initiative is a big milestone for Golden Path, allowing Compass to better empower college students while expanding the reach of communities, colleges, and employers. Stay tuned for more updates!
Offering Memberships through the Bakken Area Skills Center
Golden Path is partnering with the Bakken Area Skills Center (BASC) in Watford City, ND, to support workforce development for businesses in Northwestern North Dakota. The BASC provides hands-on career and technical education (CTE) classes and real-world work experience for high school students across five counties in Northwestern North Dakota. It is also used for postsecondary training and education for in-demand skills of regional employers.
With the new collaboration, Golden Path is offering employer memberships as part of the new BASC sustaining partner levels designed to help employers build the next generation of workforce for the region. By becoming a BASC sustaining partner, employers help students find successful careers while expanding their organization’s exposure, influence, and connections with students regionally and statewide.
BASC sustaining partners benefit from marketing, training, and influence opportunities provided by the center including highlighting companies to students, school professionals, and the community; making BASC resources and rooms available to employers for trainings; and working with employers to ensure the CTE curriculum is relevant to their industry.
Sustaining partners also benefit from connections fostered through Golden Path Solutions, including support in offering work-based learning (WBL) opportunities, Career Profiles in the online platform Compass to highlight careers, creating incentives for long-term workforce development, and building a strategy to connect with students.
Watch upcoming communications from both organizations for more information.
Promoting CTE Month with NDCTE
February is CTE Month and we’re celebrating!
Watch for our Facebook ads created in partnership with North Dakota Career and Technical Education to draw awareness to the benefits of hands-on learning and career readiness.
CTE benefits every career path, from computer science and marketing to healthcare and construction. These classes help students explore careers, develop valuable skills, and prepare for their futures. NDCTE, RUReady.ND.gov, and Compass support these efforts by making it easy for students to assess their skills and interests, learn about careers and employers, match with hands-on work experiences, and more.
New event functionality in Compass
We understand the significance of in-person connection opportunities for high school students, schools, and employers. These can include everything from a traditional career fair, guest-speaking event, and employer site tour to a statewide or national event for DECA, FFA, or SkillsUSA
We’re excited to launch the first phase of a four-phase project allowing schools to publish events to employers. We’ll also help employers register for those events and highlight the careers and skills they are hoping to find when visiting with students. The first phase includes a calendar of events available in Compass to employers. Phase two will allow schools to enter those events and publish them to employers for registration.
In the meantime, please continue to send your events to us at events@goldenpath.net.
New employer membership pricing
We recently launched new employer pricing to add value to employers and give them more options depending on what they want to do. We now have various membership levels:
- Awareness Membership to support a company wanting to bring their company and careers to students
- Connections Membership to help connect employers directly to students who have opted into a search process
- Premium or Partnership Memberships for employers who want to create a future talent pipeline by building a regional or even statewide strategy to reach students and schools
Of course, we still have free options for employers, including the Employer Connections Database for connecting with school professionals and offering work-based learning experiences in Compass. Employer-written Career Profiles are also now free. Employers can share as many as they want using our templates and guidance or they can have Golden Path write them for a small fee. If you are an existing Compass employer, we’ll be reaching out to you with more information. If you’re renewing soon, we’ll work with you on your best option.
Employers using internships and other WBL to build workforce
Internships, apprenticeships, and other work-based learning (WBL) opportunities are important workforce solutions for North Dakota companies, according to the 2024 North Dakota Economics and Employer Survey. Conducted by the Greater North Dakota Chamber in Bismarck, the survey used a representative sample of membership to provide a snapshot of where members stood on issues of importance related to public policy and the economy.
When asked what workforce solution they use to attract, hire, and retain workforce, 56% said internships, 54% said WBL, and 27% said apprenticeships.
Compass already enables employers to offer all of these opportunities to students in the region. We’re also looking to add apprenticeships to one of the options for Career Profiles, which currently include Sponsorship, available now, and information only.
North Dakota Career and Technical Education is also advocating for more WBL coordinators in North Dakota schools as well as school use of Compass and RUReady.ND.gov for WBL management.
We look forward to supporting both employers and schools in the demand for WBL opportunities.
Lesson plans and activity map now available in Compass
Compass lesson plans and an activity map are now available for school professionals using Compass directly. These resources can be used to help integrate Compass into career exploration lessons in the classroom. We are working with RUReady.ND.gov to make these available in the Professional Center soon.
The new resources include a detailed activity map for all four years of high school with recommended touchpoints for using Compass throughout each year. We’ve released the first five lesson plans that correspond with the activity map, with more plans to follow soon. These can be used by any classroom teacher and are an excellent option for substitute teachers.
The resources are easily accessible through the updated Compass school professional home page. From the column on the right, select “Career Exploration.” The new page will allow you to navigate between “Career Profiles,” “Lesson Plans,” and the “Activity Map.”
Wallwork noting success with in-person visits and Compass
After trying social media marketing campaigns and college career fairs, Tony Doll realized there had to be a better way to find talent for his company. As the diesel technician recruiter for Wallwork Truck Center in Fargo, ND, he knew some of their best technicians came from small, rural North Dakota towns and by the time these students reached college, they were often already recruited by a competitor company.
It was time to reach out directly to students across the state while they were still in high school – and partner with Golden Path Solutions to help.
“We have moved a lot of our focus from online marketing to getting in front of high school students, especially in smaller, rural communities,” he says. “It’s become our new strategy to introduce future diesel technicians to the Wallwork brand.”
For Doll, that looks like traveling the state to speak to classes, attend high school career fairs, and visit directly with teachers and students, as well as offering company tours and featuring a diesel technician Career Profile in Golden Path’s online platform, Compass. He also uses Golden Path marketing templates to easily create handouts for his in-person visits. The combination of making personal connections and sharing career information with schools across the state through Compass has led to several new hires and overall increased interest in Wallwork careers.
North Dakota TSA seeks judges for state conference
The North Dakota Technology Student Association (TSA) is seeking judges for its upcoming “Tune Into Technology” state conference March 17 at the National Energy Center of Excellence (NECE) at Bismarck State College. This is an exciting chance for individuals and businesses to:
- Inspire the next generation of STEM professionals. By volunteering as a judge, you’ll play a crucial role in motivating and encouraging high school and middle school students as they compete in more than 70 STEM events.
- Witness innovation in action. You’ll get a firsthand look at the future of technology as students present their projects, showcase their problem-solving skills, and compete to qualify for nationals.
- Give back to your community. Your contribution as a judge is essential to the success of the state conference. All judging materials are provided, including comprehensive training.
North Dakota TSA also welcomes partnerships and exhibitor booths at the conference. For more information, contact Brad Hoffarth at 701-328-3159.
Important dates
- February-September: T4 Tools Trades Torque Tech Summits, various cities across ND and MN
- Feb. 9-11: North Dakota Counselor Association (NDSCA) Annual Conference, Bismarck, ND
- Feb. 13 and 14: North Dakota DECA Collegiate State Career Development Conference, Fargo, ND
- March 6: Greater North Dakota Chamber Legislative Halftime Report Webinar
- March 11: Fargo North Career Fair, Fargo, ND
- March 17: Technology Student Association State Conference, Bismark
- March 19: 2025 Traill County Career Expo and Job Fair, Mayville, ND
- March 19: Williston High School Career Fair, Williston, ND
- April 16: Mandan High School Expo, Mandan, ND
- April 22: GrowND Workforce Showcase, Bismarck
- April 24: Distribution, Manufacturing, Transportation, Liberal Arts and Communication Career Fair, Moorhead, MN
- April 29 & May 7: Cash in on Summer, Grand Forks, ND
- June 2-6 and 9-13: Herdina Construction Trades Camps, MState, Moorhead
- June 3-5: Economic Development Association of North Dakota (EDND) Summer Conference, Fargo
- June 18: ND Future Forum, Grand Forks
- July 27-30: South Dakota Career and Technical Education (SDCTE) Summer Conference, Rapid City
- Sept. 23: 2025 Policy Summit, Bismarck
Connect with us
Keep up with the latest opportunities and information here:
- Facebook for students, parents, schools, and employers
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- LinkedIn for employers
- Our blog for recent news and stories
More information
Contact Patrick for more information or to connect about opportunities with Golden Path Solutions.