LHB, Century College land grant for AI workforce training

A Duluth architecture, engineering and design firm is putting state workforce money into artificial intelligence training for every employee, turning AI from a buzzword into a job requirement. LHB, Inc. and Century College will build a 26-hour program that expects engineers, architects and managers to complete all nine courses, a scope that shows how quickly AI skills are becoming part of the workplace in St. Louis County.

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development announced the grant round on April 29, 2026 through the Minnesota Jobs Skills Partnership. DEED said 10 workforce development grants were awarded to seven Minnesota educational institutions, with nearly $1.6 million distributed statewide. The LHB award was one of the grants aimed at employer-driven training, the kind that is meant to move workers from general familiarity with new tools to specific on-the-job use.

For LHB, the training goes beyond a one-off seminar. DEED said the program is designed to help employees use AI-related tools responsibly and effectively, with four of the nine courses open to all staff and the full sequence required for engineers, architects and management. That matters for a company founded in 1966 with roughly 279 to 296 employees and about $57.2 million in annual revenue, because the training could influence how design work, project coordination, communication and decision-making are handled across the firm.

Century College brings a built-in workforce-training operation to the partnership. Its Continuing Education and Customized Training division said it served 5,235 students across 883 classes in 2024, and 5,553 people registered for its non-credit continuing education and customized training programs in fiscal year 2024. The college also offers Practical AI certificates through its Business, Leadership and Human Resources continuing-education area, giving it a ready-made platform for employer-specific instruction.

The LHB project sits inside a broader state push to use public dollars for private-sector upskilling. DEED said the Minnesota Jobs Skills Partnership has awarded $44.9 million since 2019 to train more than 45,000 workers and leveraged $74.5 million in private funding. The same April grant round also included AI-based systems training for a manufacturing company, suggesting Minnesota employers in more than one industry are trying to fold AI into daily operations before it becomes a competitive necessity.