This week’s episode of Local Motion brings two conversations that seem far apart. One is about training workers on the Western Slope. The other is about delivering medical care in Ukraine. Together, they show what it looks like to meet urgent needs by investing in people.
Technical College of the Rockies
In the first half of the program, host Brody Wilson talks with Randal Palmer, executive director of the Technical College of the Rockies. Palmer says the college is built around short-term credentials — not traditional degrees. The goal is simple: prepare students for the jobs employers need filled, and help more residents stay in the region to build a career.
Programs at the college include allied health pathways like CNA training, medical assisting, surgical technology, and diagnostic medical sonography — plus law academy training, automotive, cosmetology, welding, and a newer cyber technology program. Many can be completed in six months to two years, and Palmer says students graduate without student loan debt.
Enrollment at the school has surged, and Palmer says they’re working to expand scheduling and capacity, with classes running mornings, afternoons, evenings, and weekends. He also challenges the idea that technical education is simply an “alternative” to higher education. Instead, he frames it as a direct path for students of all ages — including high school juniors and seniors, and adults changing careers — who want the fastest route to a credential and a job.
The conversation also touches on artificial intelligence and the future of work. Palmer argues that hands-on, service-oriented jobs like healthcare and automotive work are not likely to be replaced by AI. But he says technology can still strengthen training, by helping students build practical skills and the confidence to adapt.
Bob Downs in Ukraine
In the second half of the episode, KVNF freelance reporter Laura Palmisano speaks with Bob Downs, a physician’s assistant from Lake City who has completed his sixth medical mission to Ukraine with the nonprofit Global Care Force. Downs describes traveling from Kyiv to villages in the south and southeast, including communities that were occupied earlier in the war and still struggle to access medical care and prescriptions.
Downs and his team provide primary care for chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension, along with care tied to stress and trauma. He says infrastructure remains strained, with frequent power outages and limited safe water in some areas, and he recounts working close enough to active fighting to hear artillery in the distance.
Downs plans to return again in the spring, continuing a cycle of care that relies heavily on fundraising and support. Taken together, this episode highlights two kinds of service rooted in Western Colorado — building skilled workers at home, and caring for neighbors half a world away.
