Senator Amy Klobuchar was in Mankato Wednesday, touring MTU Onsite Energy, and held a roundtable discussion to talk about the partnership the company has with the Mankato Public Schools — which provides students with hands-on jobs training.

“We’ve got to change the culture and make, really, parents, kids, everyone realize there are so many paths to success,” she said, and added, “It’s not always a four-year degree.

Klobuchar said the legislature can help launch more such programs by, “Putting in tax incentives and other grant programs to encourage employers to make it easier for students to go to school while they are working.”

She encouraged other employers to look into such programs and partnerships, “To have a good relationship with school programs so that they can, like these kids are doing, can actually start working as one of their classes, have internships, things like that.”

The Mankato manufacturer makes generators used worldwide to provide power to healthcare providers, data centers, airports, farms, and others.