Tyson Foods Inc. is starting a career development program to provide job skills training and certification for employees at their workplace.
The program, Upward Pathways, will be tested at 10 plants and is a partnership between Tyson Foods, community colleges and other adult education providers, the company said Thursday in a news release.
Classes are currently available at a beef and pork processing plant in Council Bluffs, Iowa. They will be made available at the other locations, at no cost to employees, throughout this year, Tyson said, including at its Berryville and Green Forest plants where the training provider is North Arkansas College.
When the curriculum is completed, workers will receive a Tyson-branded credential, recognizing their new skills and readiness for advancement within the company.
John R. Tyson, chief sustainability officer and son of the company’s chairman, said in a written statement that the program is an offshoot of Tyson’s successful workforce education Upward Academy program.