A landmark new partnership between TAFE NSW and a major Southern Highlands thoroughbred breeding operation will give high school students a galloping start into one of the region’s fastest growing industries.

One of the region’s leading trucking figures has welcomed a new TAFE NSW course aimed at bolstering apprentice mechanic numbers, saying a skills shortage was “suffocating” the industry.

A third generation metal fabricator has spoken of his pride in carrying on the family tradition and thanked TAFE NSW for helping him learn the finer points of the trade.

The Highlands’ burgeoning reputation as a boutique agricultural hub has been boosted by a TAFE NSW Moss Vale move to introduce a suite of new agriculture courses this month to help local industry meet workforce demand.

The health, wellbeing and community services sector needs qualified employees and a TAFE NSW is offering a seven-week taste of the industry

In a first for Moss Vale, a number of high school students are combining hairdressing at TAFE NSW with their school studies for a head-start in their chosen career.

Southern Highlands resident Julieann McDonald used her TAFE NSW horticulture qualifications to get ahead of the game as an industry grows.