Lawmakers review $750,000-a-year request for Carts2Careers grocer workforce program

Representative Ben Bateberg introduced House File 1439 on March 4, 2025, asking the committee to continue funding the Minnesota Grocers Association (MGA) Foundation’s Carts2Careers workforce program with a $750,000-per-year appropriation from the Workforce Development Fund.

Why it matters: witnesses and the bill sponsor said Carts2Careers provides industry-focused training, certificate pathways and recruitment supports designed to supply the food retail and supply chain sector with workers and opportunities for career advancement.

Steve Bartle, director of government relations for the Minnesota Grocers Association, described Carts2Careers as a multi‑pronged, employer‑matched program that has operated with DEED since 2019. Bartle told the committee the program’s retail management certificate is an eight-course, two‑year online program developed with Alexandria Technical and Community College; it offers transferable credits and aims to produce retail managers from frontline employees. He said the program also now includes a transportation and driving course for warehouse employees seeking a CDL and partnerships to use meat‑cutting programs to address shortages.

Bartle requested $750,000 per year, saying the funds would support training, certification and other development activities and that employer matching is required to leverage state dollars. He said the program expects about 100 retail management certificate graduates statewide next year and that Carts2Careers has expanded to help employers hire workers with disabilities and individuals reentering the workforce after incarceration.

Two program graduates gave testimony. Kendra Nathie testified she completed the retail management program in 2021 while working full time and said the communication class helped her move from cashier to shift manager to department manager; she is now an assistant store manager. Andrew Acapone described using program partnerships to pursue higher education and to develop in‑store nutrition programming with a corporate partner.

Committee members sought changes and raised concerns. Representative Kayla Berg asked whether program participants should be required to receive “family‑sustaining wages and health care” and whether the author would be amenable to language requiring such standards; Bartle said the association was “open to the conversation” but worried about excluding part‑time workers who might not receive full benefits through collective bargaining agreements. Representative Pinto and others noted a letter from UFCW in the packet asking that funded employers provide family‑sustaining jobs and have no history of labor violations; Pinto urged early conversations about whether the appropriation should be administered through competitive grants rather than direct appropriations. Bartle said the bill’s language was intended to provide flexibility to use funds beyond the original retail management certificate to cover other training and development costs.

Action taken: the committee laid House File 1439 over for possible inclusion in the omnibus budget; no final appropriation was adopted during this hearing.

Next steps: sponsors and stakeholders indicated willingness to discuss eligibility and wage/benefit language as they prepare for the budget process.