News Release Provided By Northern Lakes Economic Alliance
Training employees so your business stays competitive can be costly. Thanks to the Going Pro Talent Fund, 18 companies from the NLEA’s four-county region received awards to train 359 of their incumbent workforce. Formerly known as the Skilled Trades Training Fund Grant, the Going Pro Talent Fund program is designed to enhance and promote employee skills training statewide and across all sectors of the workforce. Some of these sectors are agriculture, manufacturing, hospitality, IT and healthcare.
“It’s a great program. It allows us to bring a higher degree of expertise into the building in a relatively short period of time,” said Betsy Schnell, HR. Manager of Van Dam Boat Works / Boyne Boat Yard in Boyne City, MI. Ms. Schnell added that “the program documentation is quite reasonable.”Over $515,000 will be spent by the 18 companies that have leveraged over $7,395,000 of private investment to upgrade skills for a total of 359 employees. The companies hope to add 118 new jobs in our four-county region as well.
This investment will grow the regional tax base with 8 awards given to Emmet County companies, 7 awards granted to Charlevoix County, and 3 awards given Antrim County. Cheboygan County has 1 award pending at present.
Precision Edge Surgical Products in Boyne City, MI is very excited to put 7 of their employees through important training thanks to Going Pro. Patricia Blanchard, Precision Edge’s HR Manager, notes that, “One specific training approved is for JIT Introduction to CNC Operations through NCMC, which provides our inexperienced employees an opportunity to have a working knowledge of the concepts, equipment, materials and processes involved in operating Computer Numerical Control systems, as well as an exposure to advanced machining techniques that is tailored to our company’s needs.”
In order to qualify for this State of Michigan funding, Talent Fund training must be short-term and fill a demonstrated talent need experienced by the employer. Training must lead to a credential for a skill that is transferable and recognized by industry.
For a complete statewide list for all FY19 Going Pro Talent Fund award winners Click Here.
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/wda/GoingPRO_Talent_Fund_FY19_Awards_Per_Region_641612_7.pdf
