Golden Path Solutions Newsletter – June 2025

by | Jun 10, 2025 | Blog, News | 0 comments

Image shows a screen shot of the Avionics Technician Career Profile inside Compass, including photos, a video, and job details.

Hello from Golden Path!

We hope that you are getting ready for some rest and relaxation as we head into summer, whether it be a break from the school schedule or a personal vacation. Summer is a great time for us at Golden Path to reflect on everything we’ve learned over the last year, update Compass with new features, and partner with employers to create new opportunities for students when they are back in school.  We hope you are able to regroup over the summer as well!

We had another amazing school year, with more than 23,000 students and 600 employers in Compass. We now have seven postsecondary institutions in Compass – most recently adding Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. We’re also exploring opportunities with several other organizations to help build connections between more students, schools, programs, and employers. It’s exciting to see our community continue to grow.

Keep reading the June 2025 newsletter for more of what’s new at Golden Path!

WBL growing as workforce development core strategy

Work-based learning (WBL) continues to gain recognition and support across the region as organizations partner to build employer and school interest.

You can still watch recordings of our three-part webinar series with the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce in Fargo. Workforce Webinars: Find Your Future Employees with Work-Based Learning explored how employers can use WBL experiences as a workforce development strategy. Golden Path Solutions will also be included in the panel for The Pulse of the Emerging Workforce: Talent Development Through Work-Based Learning. The June 17 event will explain what WBL is and how it connects education and workforce needs.

In recent weeks, we supported several North Dakota schools – including those in Grafton, Watford City, Grand Forks, and Fargo – as they established their WBL connections and opportunities for students this summer and next fall. WBL will also be featured in the 2025 North Dakota Professional Development Conference, Level Up With CTE: Skills That Pay Off Aug. 4-6 in Bismarck.

Finally, Golden Path is engaged in WBL conversations outside of North Dakota, exploring ways we can support processes in Minnesota, Montana, South Dakota, and South Carolina.

Upcoming Compass updates and features

Each summer, we update Compass for our employers and schools, listening to feedback and creating new features to better meet our customers’ needs.

Some upcoming features include:

  • Plan of study tracking – Moorhead Area Public Schools requested that Compass track how far a student is with a plan of study, such as healthcare, construction, or automotive.
  • Job shadow scheduler – Grand Forks Public Schools is helping us build a job shadow scheduling tool that will track logistics, applications, student interest, and more, making it easier for schools to manage job shadow experiences.
  • New additions to the Connections Database – In conjunction with special education and transition educators, we are adding options to the Connections Database for employers to indicate if they are willing to work with students requiring unique accommodations and if they are open to job coaches assisting students on-site.
  • Notifications for new employers – Compass will notify educators when new employers have signed up in Compass and chosen their school for connections.
  • Improved user interfaces – Watch for additional updates to our new Career Profile layout, a new student home screen, and usability improvements across Compass.
  • Introducing zones – This summer, we’re also creating zones in Compass, so students, employers, and schools see their regional information and opportunities. This will help customize our Compass experiences as we grow our footprint nationally.

Employer memberships renewing in August

Most of our employer memberships are up for renewal in August. Watch your email this summer for information about your renewal, including options to upgrade your membership to a higher level, especially if you want to create a comprehensive strategy on how you connect with schools. We will send employers a short series of emails to explain the renewal process, outline membership level options, and provide tips for getting ready for student connections this fall.

New partnerships on the horizon

As our Compass community continues to grow, we are visiting with organizations about how we can help them connect with employers, students, and schools. We’ve had great conversations with Mind Shift in Fargo (an organization that supports employment for neurodivergent individuals), the Immigration Development Center in Moorhead, the Detroit Lakes (MN) Chamber of Commerce,  Job Service North Dakota, North Dakota Vocational Rehabilitation, North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and more. We will be advocates for all these organizations and the great work they do with the audiences they serve, while also looking for potential opportunities to help them systematically within Compass to drive more visibility and more opportunities for their stakeholders.

New opportunities available in Compass

The latest opportunities in Compass include the Avionics Technician Career Profile from Executive Air Taxi Corporation in Bismarck, the Marketing Specialist Career Profile from Acme Tools in Grand Forks, the aviation mechanic technology program at North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton, the marketing program at North Dakota State University in Fargo, and Lynnes Welding Training in Fargo. We’re excited to help these organizations highlight their opportunities to schools and students, and the amazing things they have to offer to our schools and students.

Learn from Golden Path at upcoming events

We’d love to see you at some upcoming events! As mentioned earlier, Golden Path will be included in the speaker panel at The Pulse of the Emerging Workforce: Talent Development Through Work-Based Learning June 17 in Fargo.

You can also connect with us and Golden Path at:

Compass tips for this summer

We want your Compass experience to be easy and effective. Here are some ways to improve your experience this summer:

  • Employers: Did you know you can easily select a few key careers at your company that will help students know if they are a match for you? Just log into Compass, go to “Profile”, and select the pencil icon next to your employer name. Scroll down and choose up to 10 careers that you offer at your company. If students have the skills that correspond to those jobs, they’ll show up as a match for your organization. It’s a great way to get your company in front of more students who have the skills you’re looking for.
  • Students: You can easily find careers that include tuition reimbursement! Log in to Compass, go to “Opportunities” and then “Career Profiles.” Select “Filters,” choose “Offering,” and select “Sponsorships.” You will see all of the careers that employers are willing to help cover tuition.
  • School professionals: You can publish events, such as career fairs, special events, or invitations to employers in Compass. Go to “Employers” and “Create Events.” Check the box for “Event is for Employers.” Then select your employers by name, distance, industry, or career cluster. When your opportunity is published, those employers will receive a notification about your event and the event will be listed in the Compass calendar.

For more Compass tips and recommendations, register for one of our free monthly employer training sessions, visit our YouTube channel, or contact us.

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.