A $300,000 grant will be used to develop and implement lean process improvement training for more than 560 employees of Thermo King.

The funding was awarded by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development under its Minnesota Job Skills Partnership.

The grant will provide Thermo King, which supplies temperature control systems for buses and other vehicles, with learning resources from Minneapolis Community and Technical College.

Additionally, grant resources will be used to design and develop flexible, collaborative workspaces aimed at speeding up decision-making and information sharing and enhancing teamwork for cross-functional projects. Officials said that collectively, these business improvements will foster growth and customer-driven innovation.

Minneapolis Community and Technical College will manage the Thermo King partnership grant, which will take place over the next three years.

“The commitment between the two organizations demonstrates how corporations and educational institutions can partner to increase business efficiency, resulting in positive economic impacts,” said Ray Pittard, president of Thermo King – North America. “This grant supports Thermo King’s lean culture transformation to better serve customers across North America.”