Free Training Materials From The WSLA State-Wide Alcohol Education Program

For over twenty years, the Wyoming State Liquor Association, with funding and support from the Wyoming Liquor Division, trained almost 40,000 people in Wyoming free of charge with the TIPS program on alcohol awareness and responsible sales and service.  Some of you might remember that the TIPS program was purchased by 360training, and there were some major issues with that transition.

Happily, most of those issues have been resolved, and we’re back on track.  The WSLA is once again be able to supply free training materials and support, with funding and back-up from the Wyoming Liquor Division.  Since around two dozen Wyoming municipalities now mandate alcohol server training, this is very important to many of our businesses and communities that have often been paying for those materials.

The WSLA supplies TIPS training manuals to certified trainers free of charge.  However, there are a few conditions:

• The classes must be free to the students.  It’s fine if someone pays a trainer, but the students should not be required any out-of-pocket expense.
• We will send you manuals as needed, but we won’t send you a hundred manuals if you’ve never trained, or have only trained a few, classes.  These manuals are expensive, and we would rather have three shipments of 50 manuals rather than one of 150 unless the trainer has a proven track record.
• The WSLA provides TIPS manuals for two curriculums, On-Premise and Concessions.  The On-Premise is used for all retail on and off-premise employees, whereas the Concessions class is focused on events or venues with volunteers or sellers dealing with alcohol.

There are TIPS trainers all over Wyoming, but it would be preferable to have more.  The WSLA directly does training, but usually only in southeastern Wyoming due to logistics.  But it’s never been easier to become, or have someone become, a TIPS trainer.  A couple points on that:

• Before the pandemic, an interested individual would have to attend a two day seminar in person to become a TIPS trainer.  However, that training is now available on-line at https://www.gettips.com.  Just hit the “TIPS trainers” tab, and look for a workshop for the “TIPS Commercial” curriculum.  First time cost is $499, annual renewal fee is $75 per 18 months.
• If you live outside an area that has current TIPS trainers (there are 56 in the state currently) you might want to consider having a trainer on staff, or pooling together with other liquor establishments, to have an active trainer available on a regular basis.  It’s best to have someone who has spent time in front of a group of people so they feel comfortable training a 3-4 hour class, and someone who has knowledge of our industry.  We will make training manuals free to the trainer, and also have resources such as legal information that outline Wyoming law.

If you have any questions, please contact Mike Moser at the WSLA office at moser@wyoliquor.org.