• Prior to 1986, Stearns County was part of a 13-County Consortium called “PIC 5”. Benton joined Stearns in 1988 and the remaining 11 County area is now known as Central Minnesota Jobs & Training Services with administrative offices in Monticello.

• Stearns County pulled out of the larger consortium in 1986 with program administration from Stearns County Social Services and the program was called the Stearns County Jobs Program. The programs were housed in downtown St. Cloud.

• When Benton County joined Stearns in 1988, the Stearns County Board of Commissioners delegated administrative, fiscal as well as service responsibilities to a newly created agency called Job Opportunities in Benton and Stearns (J.O.B.S.). The agency remained a department of Stearns County. The organization moved to Midtown Square Mall in St. Cloud.

• On February 1, 1991, the “Private Industry Council” and the Job Training Board changed the Service Delivery Area name to Stearns-Benton Employment & Training Council (SBETC) to alleviate any confusion regarding the mission of the organization.

• On July 1, 1991, SBETC was established as an independent local government agency administered under a Joint Powers Agreement by a Board of five County Commissioners.

• In 1995 the Elected Official Board (Joint Powers Board) changed to two County Commissioners from each County (Stearns and Benton) and one appointee from the Private Industry Council (now Workforce Council).

• While the federal Jobs Training Partnership Act (JTPA) of 1982 was the driver behind the existing Joint Powers Agreement, the document (and now WIOA) authorized SBETC to administer contracted employment and training programs under local authority.

• Other WorkForce Center Partners (Job Service, Rehabilitation Services, Services for the Blind, and a division of Stearns County Human Services) joined SBETC at Midtown in 1997 and integrated into shared space in 2002. SBETC is known as the “local” partner in the WorkForce Center because of the local accountability to the Joint Powers Board and the Stearns-Benton Workforce Council.

• In 1998, Congress passed the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) to reform federal job training programs and create a new, comprehensive workforce investment system. The reformed system was intended to be customer-focused, to help Americans access the tools they needed to manage their careers through information and high quality services, and to help U.S. companies find skilled workers. WIA aimed to improve the quality of the workforce and enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the nation.

• March 2007, the WorkForce Center partners moved to the St. Cloud Technical College which later became the St. Cloud Technical & Community College.

• President Obama signed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) into law. WIOA, effective of July 1, 2015, was a reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 that had expired. WIOA is designed to help job seekers access employment, education, training, and support services to succeed in the labor market and to match employers with the skilled workers they need to compete in the global economy.

• On June 1, 2015, Tammy Biery started as the new Executive Director at SBETC.

• In August 2017, SBETC rebranded to Career Solutions.

• On February 16, 2017, Non-profit: Friends of Career Solutions was formed.

• Fall of 2018, The Minnesota WorkForce Center rebranded to CareerForce.