SECOND SHIFT · FROM THE FIELD
Casper, Wyoming · Manufacturing and sales · Career training
From the reporting archive · Original report: May 8, 2026
When Khara LeDoux entered Climb Wyoming’s training in 2012, her two sons were young and she was figuring out how to support them on her own. She moved back to Casper for the program and learned welding. What followed was a working life that lasted well beyond graduation.
Wyoming Public Radio reported in May that LeDoux spent the next 12 years at a local machine shop helping make race car parts. She credited the training with more than technical instruction: financial literacy, parenting support and growing confidence also shaped her experience.
By the time of the report, she had moved into sales for a Wyoming internet provider, a position she found through the Climb network. The change gave her more flexibility for her teenage sons’ sports. She reported earning twice what she had when she first finished training.
LeDoux also described a stable home and the ability to volunteer in her community. Her progress shows why the most revealing workforce follow-up may come years after the first job.
Location Decision takeaway
Long-term earnings, career mobility and family flexibility help show whether training has expanded a worker’s choices.
Second Shift tells the stories of people building what’s next through new skills, new careers and second chances. From the Field items are curated from credited reporting, with Location Decision’s perspective. Location Decision Originals are independently reported by our team.
Curated by Location Decision. Originally reported by Hannah Habermann, Wyoming Public Radio, May 8, 2026.