Work force training program links employees with businesses, pays for itself

OLYMPIA – Start with a pool of job seekers looking for jobs in high-demand fields. Add a group of businesses hoping to expand if only they can find employees trained in their particular specialties. Now mix in a college curriculum that trains people to do precisely those jobs, funded by the businesses that need them.

That’s the genius behind the bill passed today by the Senate that would establish the Washington Customized Employment Workforce Training program.

“We have lots of motivated young people who need training, and we have businesses that need trained employees,” said Sen. Paull Shin, D-Edmonds, the bill’s sponsor and the chair of the Senate International Trade & Economic Development Committee. “We can solve both problems at one time, and make Washington more attractive to growing businesses as well.

“This isn’t just win-win. This is win-win-win.”

Senate Bill 6326 would provide $5 million to establish an Employment Training Finance Account from which the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges would award training grants to businesses that set up agreements with local training institutions. Participating businesses would pay back one-fourth of a student’s training costs upon the completion of training and the remaining three-fourths during the next 18 months.

To qualify, businesses would increase their employment in the state by at least 75 percent of the trainees in the training program. The businesses would also receive a business-and-occupation tax credit of half what they pay for employee training.

A similar program in Iowa has created more than 3,000 jobs since 1983, Shin said. His plan has the capacity to train up to 1,600 workers a year.

“This makes the state more attractive for businesses, both domestic and foreign,” Shin said.

SB 6326 passed the Senate unanimously and now goes to the House of Representatives.

Return to Senator Shin's home page