The Journey Of SCTCC President Lori Kloos In Minnesota

The President of St. Cloud Technical and Community College (SCTCC), Lori Kloos is my guest on the latest edition of WJON's My Life series.

Family

Lori grew up along Maple Lake in the small town of Forada, south of Alexandria. She is the oldest of 3 children... she has 2 younger brothers. Lori enjoyed growing up along the lake, she liked camping, tubing, boating, water skiing, and snowmobiling. Her parents both worked... her dad was a diesel mechanic instructor at Alexandria Vocational Technical Institute and her mother worked in the Douglass County courthouse in the Treasury Office before becoming the county treasurer.

Early Years

As a young person in Forada, Lori enjoyed reading, spending time with friends and doing activities on the lake. She says she never really got into sports. Lori enjoyed the small town life as everyone knew everyone and looked out for each other. She recalls her father doing a lot of work at home with diesel engines so when she goes into the diesel shop at SCTCC today, it smells like home.

High School and College

Lori graduated from Jefferson High School in Alexandria. After graduation she decided to stay at home and go to Alexandria Technical College. Lori focused on interior design and realized after 1 year that wasn't the right fit. She transferred to Austin Area Vocational and Technical Institute in southern Minnesota. Lori wanted to go further from home. It was a 1-year sales and marketing program. She earned her diploma and met her husband in Austin.

Photo courtesy of Lori Kloos

In the workforce

Lori took a job back in Alexandria at a home retail store where she could do some decorating. During her year in Alexandria she became engaged to her husband and moved back to southern Minnesota. Lori worked at a shoe store in downtown Rochester. She recalls really enjoying that opportunity.

Married and a New Job

Lori got married and her husband got a job working with MN-Dot and the couple relocated to Mankato. She got a job selling print advertising in Janesville, Minnesota for Janesville Argus. Lori says it was cold calling so it was a bit challenging. She indicated she had great mentors and learned quite a bit about print media. Lori did that job for 1 1/2 years. Her husband got a new job in Detroit Lakes so the couple relocated again. Lori took a job at Lake Area Press selling print advertising again. She worked her way up to advertising manager.

Graduation from Moorhead State

At 26 years old Lori decided she wanted to go back to school. She enrolled at Moorhead State and focused on international business. Lori did this for 2 years before changing her focus to accounting. She graduated from Moorhead State with an accounting degree.

Move to St. Cloud

Lori's husband took a new job with the Department of Transportation in St. Cloud in the mid 1990s. The couple relocated to St. Cloud and Lori took a job working for the Office of the Legislative Auditor in St. Paul. She commuted every day. At this time the Kloos' had 2 young children. She recalls being one of the auditors who helped with the transition of schools into the MNSCU system and that included St. Cloud Technical College. During this transition a job opened up at St. Cloud Technical College in St. Cloud as their business office manager. She got the job and credits her wonderful mentors for helping her get to that point of her career.

Photo courtesy of Lori Kloos

SCTCC Job

Lori recalls some financial challenges when she started at the college in 1998. She was able to overcome these and helped the school as they underwent rapid growth. Kloos says the school explored the possibility of become a community college in addition to maintaining the technical portion of what they offer. She says they became a more comprehensive college with that transition.

Becoming President

Lori never thought she'd become a college President but when Joan Volkmuth announced her retirement, Volkmuth told her she'd be a good college President. Joyce Collins replaced Volkmuth but when Collins left in 2017, Kloos became the interim President. She was both an interim and an acting President in her time at SCTCC before becoming the President without an interim tag in 2022.