Texas Mutual Grant Expands Safety Training and Strengthens Kilgore’s Workforce

Texas Mutual Insurance Company has awarded Kilgore College a $100,000 grant for the 19th consecutive year to support the college’s Risk Management Institute, which provides free workplace safety training for employers, workers, students and community members. A course schedule can be found here: www.kilgore.edu/RMI.

For Kilgore, the investment does more than fund individual classes. It strengthens the skills of current employees, helps students and job seekers earn practical credentials and gives local companies another resource for developing safer, more capable and more competitive teams.

Kilgore College Risk Management Institute at a glance

• 2026 Texas Mutual grant: $100,000

• Consecutive years of grant support: 19

• Classes offered during the past year: 104

• Participants served during the past year: 1,698

• Year-over-year enrollment growth: 141%

• Increase in CPR participation: 74%

• People trained during the program’s history: More than 20,000

The longstanding partnership between Texas Mutual and Kilgore College is approaching $2 million in total support for safety education and workforce training.

Why safety training matters to Kilgore employers

Safety training is an important part of Kilgore’s workforce-development infrastructure.

The 12-county Kilgore Labor Draw includes more than 325,000 workers, with approximately 70,000 employed in goods-producing industries. Manufacturing, construction, natural resources, mining, oil and gas, and related industrial fields collectively account for 23% of employment in the labor draw—well above state and national averages.

In a region with such a significant concentration of industrial employment, workplace safety knowledge is not a secondary skill. It is a core workforce competency.

Local companies can use Risk Management Institute courses to support employee onboarding, refresh essential knowledge, prepare workers for additional responsibilities and reinforce a workplace culture centered on safety and accountability.

The institute’s programs also help employers develop their existing workforce. That is an important complement to employee recruitment. A strong workforce strategy must not only attract new workers; it must also help current employees expand their skills, earn credentials and advance within their organizations.

Training for workers, students and job seekers

The Risk Management Institute serves people at many stages of their careers.

For a current employee, a course may provide a required certification, strengthen knowledge needed for a new assignment or support advancement into a supervisory role.

For a student or job seeker, training can add a practical credential to a résumé and provide greater familiarity with workplace expectations before entering an industrial environment.

High school students, nontraditional learners and community members can also participate. That broad access creates multiple entry points into the workforce-development system—from helping young people prepare for their first jobs to helping experienced workers qualify for greater responsibility.

Courses offered through the institute include:

• OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 certifications

• General forklift safety

• Hazard communication and HAZWOPER training

• Excavation and trenching safety

• Workplace safety audits

• CPR, first aid and basic life support

• Active-shooter and Stop the Bleed response

• Leadership training for safety supervisors

• Department of Transportation rules and regulations

Many of the courses are available at no cost because of the Texas Mutual grant, although course schedules, locations and registration requirements vary.

A responsive resource for business and industry

One of the institute’s greatest strengths is its ability to respond to employer needs.

Kilgore College offers an established schedule of safety courses, but its workforce-development team can also work with companies and organizations to identify additional training needs and develop targeted programs.

That flexibility allows employers to address changing equipment, processes, regulations and workforce requirements. It also gives companies access to a local training partner that understands the region’s industries and workforce.

For companies considering a Kilgore location or expansion, that capacity is part of the community’s business value proposition. Employers evaluate more than available sites, infrastructure and transportation access. They also need to know whether a community has educational and workforce partners that can help them train, retain and advance employees.

Kilgore College’s Risk Management Institute demonstrates that this support is available locally.

Growing demand demonstrates workforce value

Participation in the Risk Management Institute has grown significantly.

During the past year, Kilgore College offered 104 Risk Management Institute classes and served 1,698 participants. The total number of classes increased 22%, while overall enrollment increased 141%.

CPR training experienced especially strong growth. The number of CPR participants increased 74%, and the number of CPR classes increased 252%.

These figures represent more than registrations.

They represent workers entering industrial environments with stronger safety knowledge, students beginning their careers with practical credentials, supervisors becoming better equipped to lead their teams and community members prepared to respond during an emergency.

The numbers also demonstrate clear demand for short-term, accessible training that can be completed outside a traditional degree pathway.

A workforce partnership producing long-term impact

The Risk Management Institute is an example of how public-private partnerships can strengthen a regional workforce.

Texas Mutual provides sustained financial investment. Kilgore College provides the instructors, educational resources and workforce expertise. Employers, employees, students and community members apply that training in workplaces and organizations throughout Kilgore and East Texas.

Kilgore Economic Development Corporation supports partnerships that help local employers access talent, develop employees and remain competitive. Programs such as the Risk Management Institute are important because they connect education directly to workplace needs.

Workforce development is not limited to filling today’s job openings. It includes building a long-term system in which people can acquire skills, earn credentials, advance professionally and contribute safely and productively throughout their careers.

Through the continued support of Texas Mutual Insurance Company, Kilgore College’s Risk Management Institute is helping Kilgore build that system—one employer, one class and one worker at a time.

Employers, workers and community members can review current course information and registration opportunities through Kilgore College’s Risk Management Institute.