CEO Ray Kuntz got commitments from a bank and a major driving school network last summer. His staff implemented the novel tuition financing program in just a few months.

In 2004, Duane Christensen retired after 27 years as a firefighter, including about 20 years at McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Wash. He could get by on his pension and other resources, but Christensen, who was only in his early 50s, needed something to occupy his time. More importantly, he wanted to earn enough money to put his son, now 9 years old, through college.

While surfing the Web recently for job possibilities, Christensen saw an ad for Western Pacific Truck School, a major truck driver training operation on the West Coast. Christensen had worked with heavy equipment his whole life, and his father had been a truck driver for many years. So he called Western Pacific and expressed an interest in obtaining a commercial driver’s license. But the school’s representative quickly raised a hurdle, Christensen says.

“The guy asked, ‘Do you have $4,800?’ I laughed and said, ‘Well, not on me.’ ”

But rather than send Christensen away – possibly to an entirely different second career – the Western Pacific representative offered an alternative. If Christensen met certain qualifications and standards, he could get a low-interest, two-year loan – regardless of his creditworthiness – and most of the loan ultimately would be repaid by someone else. The catch? He would have to commit upfront to working for Watkins & Shepard Trucking, an LTL and truckload carrier based in Helena and Missoula, Mont.

Christensen took the deal and got his CDL. On Feb. 21, he completed 10 days of secondary training at Watkins & Shepard’s driver training facility in Missoula. His employment had been delayed because he needed to deal with a family member’s health problem. “This company seems to be very family-oriented,” Christensen says. “They just told me, ‘We’ll see you when you get here.’ ”

Christensen vows to be a loyal, longtime employee for Watkins & Shepard. “They’re going to put my son through college.”