HELENA — A recent $25,000 donation to Helena WINS is the largest donation ever made to the Helena Area Chamber of Commerce.
“I'm truly grateful. I don't think that there's any other way to put that. I mean, I still can't believe it some days. I like wake up and I'm like, oh my gosh I can't believe that happened. And I just am so excited to go to work and get going on the next big thing. So, it's been awesome,” says Vice President & Director of Engagement and Advocacy of Helena WINS, McKinley Winkle.
Helena WINS is an initiative of the Helena Area Chamber of Commerce. They work to help Helena employers bring in, develop, and retain workers. The donation came from aerospace giant Boeing, which has a Helena location.
Winkle says that they plan to use this money to support their career prep events for students.
A recent labor report says that Helena’s total employment is projected to grow by over 600 jobs per year through 2029. These events will hopefully help bolster these numbers.
The events will be for such careers as manufacturing and mechanics, construction, engineering, IT, finance, and healthcare. They also plan to use this money for their retiree brunch which works to connect retirees and employers.
“And so, having this money will allow us to be able to build our programming and make them bigger and better and reach more students and reach more people in the community. And I mean, at the end of the day it's for the betterment of Helena. And that's what's important to us as a chamber, me personally and professionally, and to Boeing, as well, so,” says Winkle.
