More than 840 new employees from businesses in the North Texas region will benefit from state-funded training at Colin College.
Representatives from the Texas Workforce Board awarded the university four grants totaling $1.35 million to cover the costs of customized training for employees in 13 businesses. According to an April 9 news release from the governor’s office, the grant comes from the committee’s Skills Development Fund.
Key Points
The Skills Development Fund Program aims to support the business through training existing or new employees in high-demand occupations in areas such as healthcare, accounting, manufacturing. The program, along with the Workforce Committee, partners with public communities and technology universities, provides customized training for businesses of all sizes.
The program, according to its website, is intended to upgrade both the skill level and wages of the Texas workforce. The grant program funds training opportunities for more than 4,900 employers and has supported more than 435,000 jobs in the state since it was created in 1996.
detail
The grant funding upgrades the skills of the 714 currently employed and supports training 130 new hires at 13 companies, 12 of which are in Colin County. The total amount of labor training generated exceeds 26,000 hours.
The grant awards include:
For $478,770, it will train 227 new and current employees on two McKinney Business, Encore Wire Corporation, StatLab Medical Products and AXL. The funding will support nearly 9,600 hours of training in the manufacturing career field. It trains 370 new and current employees from $362,157, Amphenol Fiber Systems International, Frisco-based Cain Watters & Associates, and two Plano Control Systems and Natural Polymer International Corporation. Over 7,100 hours of training are completed to support employees in the manufacturing and finance sectors. For $353,072, it will train 169 new employees at CSG Forte Payments Inc., FlexLink Systems Inc., McKinney-based Netrio, and Portable Solar. Over 6,500 hours of training are provided to employees in a variety of career areas, including healthcare, accounting, solar energy and computer system design services. $158,958. The grant covers the cost of approximately 3,000 hours of training for occupations such as risk management, project management, and manufacturing. The award was announced at the April 9 ceremony at the Colin Higher Education Centre in McKinney by the TWC Commissioner representing Labour Party Alberto Trevinho III. The event also included comments from representatives from profit business, along with representatives from Colin College and Workforce Solutions in northern Texas.
In her comments at the event, Mercedes Boren, chairman of Workforce Solutions in Northern Texas, said Colin University has received a $4.5 million Skills Development Fund grant since 2015.
“The workforce is all about creating opportunities, and it’s about creating opportunities for individuals and better lives, but what really does is… create better communities and better communities for all of us,” Boren said.
Notable quotes
“Our investment in our workforce is critical to the success of the Texas economy,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in the release. “For our partnership with Texas community colleges, we would like to thank the Texas Labor Commission to ensure that Texas has the skills necessary to thrive in tomorrow’s economy.”
