Being a maintenance worker for the Montana Department of Transportation means putting community safety above all else. The Maintenance Academy gives crew members the chance not only to serve that mission, but to further their careers in the process.
(WATCH: MDT Maintenance Academy helps workers further careers)
The department has nearly 600 maintenance technicians and section supervisors across the state. This year, 48 of them are attending the academy as they move into the next stage of MDT’s career ladder.
To make the training as hands-on as possible, MDT brings in 48 trainers from around Montana—one for each piece of equipment—so participants can get true one-on-one instruction in the field.
“It's a big investment,” said MDT maintenance reviewer Jason Allen, “but MDT’s number one asset is its people and its employees, so it's something we’re willing to invest in.”
Most attendees come through the program after about two years on the job, though some take a bit longer. For Donald Braaten, who spent three seasons as a temporary winter worker and has been full-time for seven years, the academy is an important stepping stone.
“I plan on hopefully being a chief someday, a maintenance chief,” Braaten said. “That’s kind of what my goal is.”
Beyond learning how to operate new equipment, participants say the biggest takeaway is the connections they build.
You get to know other people within the state and what they do, and kind of how they run things compared to how we do things on the west side of the state, Braaten said. “It just helps that we can all collaborate and talk to each other.”
“These guys, a lot of them don't know anybody besides the people that are in their section that they work,” said MDT lead trainer Pete Servel. “Maybe someday, they would like to move to eastern Montana from western. They've got the connection already made, and that's huge to carry their career forward.”
