MoSTEMWINs helps husband and wife team find new career path

When Chris Foshe was laid off from his job at a stainless steel manufacturer in Springfield, Missouri, he and his wife Jenny decided to explore a new career path together.

Chris had worked in the stainless steel industry for 20 years, and had been with his previous employer for nearly 8 years. Both he and his wife held bachelor’s degrees, but Jenny was only making $12 per hour in the billing office where she worked.
With Chris out of work, the couple turned to Crowder College’s truck driving program to expand their career options. They already have a job lined up, where they’ll work as a team for Schneider trucking.
Their three children are mostly grown. The youngest is 18, and Chris and Jenny are excited about getting to spend more time together in their new job.
Both Chris and Jenny had family members who worked as truck drivers. In fact, Jenny’s step mother also went through Crowder’s program, and her father had been driving trucks since before she was born. Because of Jenny’s step mother, the couple knew they wanted to go to Crowder.
“The experience at Crowder has been worth every penny,” Chris said.
Both Chris and Jenny spoke very highly of Crowder’s instructors. They said that everyone at Crowder was extremely helpful, even the instructors that weren’t over Chris and Jenny’s cohort.
The Foshes graduated from Crowder’s 5-week truck driver training program on March 18. In their time in the program, they were able to use newer equipment purchased using funds from the MoSTEMWINs grant.
The grant helped Crowder College pay for two new trucks and in the future will also provide for lighting and other improvements to the skid pad used for the program.