Governor signs work force training into law, links colleges with business needs

OLYMPIA – Students in Washington’s community and technical colleges want good jobs. Businesses across Washington want highly trained workers. Both those needs are solved by the Washington Customized Employment Workforce Training program, a bill signed into law today by Gov. Chris Gregoire.

Senate Bill 6326, sponsored by Sen. Paull Shin, D-Edmonds, pairs businesses with community colleges to develop customized work-force training programs at little or no up-front cost to the business under a program in which the business ultimately reimburses the state.

“This bill works on many different levels for Washington,” said Shin, chair of the Senate International Trade & Economic Development Committee. “One, it trains our young people for new jobs, and not just any jobs but meaningful jobs. Second, it helps our local businesses grow. Third, it boosts our state economy and tax base. Fourth, it will make our state an even more attractive place to do business for domestic and international companies.”

Shin’s bill establishes a $3.15 million account from which the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges will award training grants to businesses that set up agreements with local training institutions. Participating businesses must pay back one-fourth of the training costs upon the completion of training and the remaining three-fourths within 18 months. The businesses will also receive a business-and-occupation tax credit of half what they pay for employee training conducted through this program.

To qualify, businesses must increase their employment in the state by at least 75 percent of the trainees in the training program.

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

“Washingtonians deserve an opportunity to upgrade their skills and hold a family-wage job. This innovative partnership between business, post-secondary education and training providers and the state ensures they will have those opportunities,” Gregoire said. “This bill makes it clear that Washington is serious about helping businesses expand and attracting new businesses to the state.”

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