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The Minnesota Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) announces its 17th graduating class from the Roads Scholar Program, which includes Bennington Township deputy clerk and road supervisor Frank Krahn and his grandson Jed Rice, a Mower County Public Works engineering technician.

Krahn, who has worked more than 10 years on the job, found the courses timely and informative.

“It helps with the understanding on how joint projects with the county and other entities work,” he said in a press release issued Monday. “It also was a great chance to instill lifelong learning skills for a grandson, who took the course at the same time.”

The Minnesota LTAP Roads Scholar Program is designed for local agency maintenance personnel who are committed to learning new skills and expanding their knowledge in the latest road and bridge innovations and best practices.

Since 1992, Minnesota LTAP has provided local government transportation agencies with low-cost, high-quality training for their employees. The LTAP Roads Scholar Program combines that training into a structured curriculum.

Rice, in his second year as MC Public Works engineering technician, appreciated how informative and easy to navigate the courses were.

“The program will help me a lot because the county is starting to utilize the program to help us stay up-to-date,” he said.

Both men earned a maintenance operations and technical certificate, among the nine graduates this year who earned the MOT certificate by completing a series of LTAP workshops, maintenance expos, and Circuit Training and Assistance Programs (CTAP) workshops.

Another nine grads earned a leadership, supervisory, and operations management certificate by completing four designated LTAP leadership courses. The leadership courses focus on the management of local agency and public works organizations and operations.

“I’m glad my grandpa found this program for us to do together,” Rice said “I’m also excited to keep using the program and continue to use it in my current job.”

The mission of the national LTAP program is to foster a safe, efficient, and environmentally sound transportation system by improving skills and knowledge of local transportation providers. Minnesota LTAP serves these and other training needs through workshops, personalized training, demonstrations, distance learning, events, seminars, and conferences.

Minnesota LTAP, which is housed at the University of Minnesota within the Center for Transportation Studies, is a collaborative effort of the Minnesota Local Road Research Board, the Federal Highway Administration, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

More information about Minnesota LTAP and the Roads Scholar Program is available online at http://www.mnltap.umn.edu/training/roadsscholar/.