Governor Greg Gianforte was in Stevensville last week where he stopped in at Fort Owen Ranch to check in on activities at the Summit Career Center. The non-profit organization started by ranch owner Myla Yahraus is designed to provide financial, emotional and spiritual support to people trying to improve their own lot in life by moving away from entry level minimum wage jobs into higher level career-oriented employment that can support a family.
Yahraus said the Summit Career Center’s goal is to provide a helping hand to motivated individuals who have a passion to change the current direction of their lives. “Through personal, economic and spiritual development, our students will have the opportunity to become leaders for their families and their community by abolishing relational, economic, and spiritual barriers through career and community development,” she said.
Since purchasing the property, Yahraus has worked with the State of Montana to upgrade the one-acre state park that is home to the remaining buildings at the old fort. She also allowed for the installation of a much-needed parking lot next to the historic site. She also worked with Fish, Wildlife and Parks to settle the long disputed (by the previous owner) use of the property as an “unofficial” fishing access site. FWP has purchased the site and has a plan for significant improvements. Part of the deal was to name it the John Owen fishing access site. Yahraus has deep respect for the history of the ranch and the man who established it.
The ranch began in 1850 when John Owen, a former Army sutler (or trader), purchased property settled by the Jesuit missionaries in 1841. He was invited to the valley by Salish and Nez Perce Indians.
Yahraus has taken the words, “love they neighbor as thyself” to heart. It’s what she admires about John and Nancy Owen, the ranch’s first owners.
It describes on the organization’s website how “Mr. Owen, along with his beloved Shoshone wife Nancy, built Fort Owen as a trading post. During their stewardship, John and Nancy labored continuously to improve farming, ranching, logging and other industries, some of which are still in practice today. And because of John’s friendly and generous nature, the Fort Owen also served as a respite for weary travelers and a refuge to nearby Salish and settlers from marauding Blackfeet Indians. While America’s history and culture has changed dramatically in the last 170 years, the passions and innovations first begun by the Owens have not. The Fort Owen still serves as an historical respite for travelers, and The Fort Owen Ranch will continue its agricultural heritage, adding innovation and now inspiration to others,” it states.
“The Summit Career Center is that inspiration. While our Career Center is new, its concept is not,” said Yahraus.
The career center’s curriculum is fashioned after a school called CrossPurpose located in Denver, Colorado. In 2008, its founders, Jason Jenz and Juan Pena, set out to learn what it really meant to “love our neighbor.” The result, according to Yahraus, is an educational system which doesn’t just provide a topical education in which you think you might be good. It provides down-to-the-bone personal coaching, evaluation and training so you can find and develop your best gifts. The CrossPurpose model has been duplicated in other cities across the country including Memphis, Nashville, Norfolk VA and now Stevensville.
According to Jaqueline Stevens who helps manage the career center, the school has doubled in size from the first class last year to the second. She said some additions to the facility would be required to accommodate the growing numbers, “But we are ready to do that.” she said work on the installation of another bathroom was already underway.
Retired school counselor Kristi McKay, who serves as a career coach at the center, said, “I like supporting people in transition to a life-long career that can support a family.” She and co-worker Tod Cunningham help the students sort out their desires and interests in their search for meaningful employment. They help identify the person’s current skill sets and try to match it with a suitable career. They also help by researching companies to make sure employment is available in the desired fields. They work with people ranging in age for 18 to 55 years old.
But the program is much more than a job search operation. Cunningham said that the program starts out with six weeks of “personal development” training, in which they learn some of the things that aren’t generally taught in job training classes and only learned later in “the school of hard knocks.”
Once a career path is chosen that suits their skill set and interests, the students are given a space at the center to work and some help in maneuvering through the online career training classes in which they gain certification in their field.
The help doesn’t end when the students graduate with a certificate, however. There is the follow up. There is help with the job applications and in writing resumes. The center works closely with local businesses to provide the kind of workers they need.
“We don’t want to spend all the time and effort training someone for work that is not available,” said McKay.
The center’s second class started in June of this year and graduation is set to take place around Thanksgiving. Currently they have two people studying to become home inspectors, one veterinary technician, a dental assistant, one in graphic arts and one working on computer languages. Some of the many other career training courses available include medical billing and coding, certified nursing assistant, office administration, legal secretary, banking bookkeeping, commercial driver’s license, electrical, plumbing, landscaping, sheet metal fabrication and more.
“I commend you on your vision,” Governor Gianforte told Yahraus, “and I‘m impressed by the impact that you are going to have on so many lives as you grow. It makes realizing the American Dream more attainable.”