Idaho Transportation Hosts Hands-on Heavy Equipment Operator Course

The Idaho Transportation Department hosted a free three-week hands-on heavy equipment operator course at the Kootenai Technical Education Campus. The course aims to help fill the skilled labor employment gap in the booming construction industry and gives veterans, women and minorities a chance boost their careers.

Of the 700 applicants, 19 were chosen to participate. The course, which allows students to operate several pieces of equipment including an excavator, backhoe, grader, roller, forklift and dozer, is funded with a $198,000 Ladders of Opportunity grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation. Eight states were awarded the grants after 40 applied.

To learn more, read the Coeur d’Alene Press article.