Last night in Winnipeg, Enns Brothers of Portage la Prairie was honoured as Apprenticeship Manitoba's Rural Employer of the Year for 2017.

They were nominated by Portage Collegiate Career Development Coordinator Blair Hordeski.

Enns Brothers Branch Manager Gary Bohn says they're proud and honoured to receive the award.

Gary Bohn with the award

"Apprenticeships are very important to us," he says, "In our industry, it's continual growing, and technology is really evolving in equipment, so apprenticeships are our future. As we grow as a company, we need local apprenticeships, as we continue to grow."

Bohn notes they've provided automotive student apprenticeships for years.

"But we've gone beyond that," he says, "We've actually opened our dealership up to the entire school, where we'll bring in all students to see where agriculture has gone, where the equipment, the technology, and the crop science has gone today. It just helps the students nowadays to see what our industry's about, and help them make decisions on what they want to do after grade 12."

He describes PCI as a great school.

"This last year, one of the students was the number one student in all of Manitoba for Skills Manitoba," he says, "Which is an automotive diagnostic testing award. And last year, they also put out the number two student for the same competition. So, a feather in the hat for our high school, and the quality programs that they put out."

Bohn anticipates Enns Brothers will continue with apprenticeships in the future.