PRINEVILLE, OR -- Prineville is reaping the benefits of a partnership with Baker Technical Institute. The latest graduating class of heavy equipment operators will meet a demand for the specialty skill as Crook County, and the region, continues to grow.

City manager Steve Forrester tells KBND News the trade school has been a great fit. “For the new industry that we have here in Central Oregon as a result of Meta being here and all the construction that goes along with that, not to mention the construction, just generally speaking, things going on in our community that require those trades are really very important,” Forrester adds he’d like to see the program expand, “Our long-range goal with Baker Technical Institute as a community is to get them a spot here with classroom availability. We've worked with a lot of our partners to get them an area where they can drive trucks and backhoes and stuff and it's just gone really, really well.”

Prineville's partnership with BTI started in 2021. “We really felt that we had the culture and qualified folks, young and old alike that came out of the, what I would call a kind of a blue-collar working environment,” says Forrester, “We just kind of have that aptitude in my opinion and it seems like there was a real void.”

Students recently completed work on 60 feet of sidewalk. Prineville officials worked with local contractors on the project. Forrester says those partnerships help B-T-I graduates get jobs with those construction companies.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the country will see more than 42,300 heavy equipment operator job openings in the coming year.