Op Ed: Job Training Fund Important Tool for Employers

Ask any NH employer in advanced manufacturing, technology, health care, hospitality, or really any sector, what their greatest job-related challenge is; they’ll likely say, “lack of employees.” The fact is, NH’s strong economy has propelled business growth at a faster rate than employers’ ability to staff-up to meet the demands of their customers.

This manifests itself in several ways. Many employers report they are not getting the right kind of candidates when they recruit talent. Candidates often lack sufficient training and education, or other “soft” skills like communicating effectively and working as a member of a team. In many parts of the state, there are simply not enough job candidates to meet demand.

At Cirtronics, we require a workforce that covers a wide variety of competencies to produce high-end products for business customers in robotics, medical devices, aerospace, and other emerging technologies. This includes engineers for design, assemblers with advanced manufacturing skills, and logistics experts who get our products out the door. Like other employers, when we have job openings we now see fewer and fewer candidates with the right skills.

New Hampshire has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the entire country. When the labor supply is this constricted, employers turn to other methods to meet their needs. One area with great promise is upgrading the skills of current employees in ways that allow them to increase productivity by mastering new technologies and requirements for 21st century jobs.

This “upskilling,” however, can be expensive. Fortunately, the New Hampshire legislature has set up a program for employers to help cover the cost of training. The New Hampshire Job Training Fund is a dollar-for-dollar matching program which helps defray employers’ costs for education, certification, and other approved forms of training. Individual award amounts range from $750 up to $100,000.

This grant program is funded by a small portion of unemployment insurance taxes – the bulk of which is deposited into New Hampshire’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund – and administered by the Office of Workforce Opportunity in the Department of Business & Economic Affairs.

It’s available to any business located in New Hampshire which pays quarterly taxes into the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. The Community College System of New Hampshire (CCSNH) is a key partner. It’s the job training “vendor of first resort.” If CCSNH can’t provide training because they don’t offer a particular program or if the campus where training would take place is too far away from the business, employers can choose a different training vendor that meets their needs.

In the period between July through December 2017, the Job Training Fund awarded forty-one companies nearly $780,000 in grants reaching over 2,200 trainees. That means in just the first five months of the fiscal year, 78% of the program’s one-million-dollar budget was already utilized. This demonstrates New Hampshire employers’ critical need for a more proficient workforce and the Job Training Fund’s value.

At Cirtronics, we’ve used the Job Training Fund to give our sales team innovative tools to bolster their techniques and effectiveness at new business development. Afterwards, we saw an increase in customers and revenue, which we attributed in part to this training. To keep up with the increased business, we even hired 65 new employees (with 20 positions yet to fill).

A grant application is available online at www.NHJobTrainingFund.org and submissions are reviewed monthly. Training programs may include structured, on-site laboratory or classroom training; basic skills; technical skills; quality improvement; safety; management and supervision; and even English as a second language.

While the state’s economic engine continues to rev, without workers prepared for 21st century jobs we risk running out of fuel. The Job Training Fund is a vital resource to employers and employees alike.

Gerardine Ferlins is president and CEO of Cirtronics Corporation in Milford.