Snohomish County Aerospace Grant for Workforce Training
APPLICATIONS DUE JULY 17, 2020
Workforce training grant supports the County’s leadership in aerospace
SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash., July 9, 2020 – In recognition of the profound impact COVID-19 has had on the aerospace industry and its workforce, Snohomish County today launched a grant program for customized, short-term training, the Aerospace Employment Recovery & Training Program (AERO-ERTP). This program aims to increase the resiliency of local businesses and to facilitate the hiring or retention of furloughed workers.
“This program supports Snohomish County’s world-class aerospace workforce through training and education programs,” said Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers. “This training will provide employees and furloughed workers with new skills to adapt to a changing aerospace industry and allow us to maintain the County’s competitive edge in commercial aerospace. It also gives local companies an opportunity to hire experienced and trained workers.”
Skills training to avert future layoffs, recall furloughed workers, and bring new talent into the aerospace industry is an important component of the grant. The grant is made possible from a portion of the CARES Act funds that were approved by the County Council to support businesses and workers.
“Supporting workers with the skills training they need for a career in aerospace is important to Snohomish County’s economic recovery,” said Snohomish County Council Chair Nate Nehring. “This grant program will allow workers to acquire new skills and instill life-long learning. During these difficult times, we want to provide opportunities for job creation and career advancement.”
Aerospace Employment Recovery & Training Program (AERO-ERTP)
The Aerospace Employment Recovery & Training Program (AERO-ERTP) aims to increase the resiliency of local businesses and to facilitate the reintegration of furloughed workers into the workforce, primarily though cohort-based trainings. The program provides businesses with a grant for preapproved, direct, training-related costs. Funding is available up to $250,000 per business and training must be completed no later than November 30, 2020.
The AERO-ERTP is designed to accomplish the following:
Increase local business competitiveness
Minimize additional layoffs
Recall furloughed workers
Adapt to new skill requirements, processes, expectations, technologies, and/or changing local, state, federal, or international regulations or standards, due to COVID 19
Upskill current employees including those who were furloughed and newly hired employees
Backfill new positions with local talent pool
Requirements for the grant include:
Business is a for-profit, has been operating in Snohomish County for a minimum of one year, and is physically located in Snohomish County.
Aerospace-related work comprises a majority (50%+) of the business’ operations based on sales, revenue, or FTE in aerospace-related work.
Employees of the business are paid at least Washington State’s 2020 minimum wage of $13.50 per hour.
Business is current in unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation taxes and have a valid UBI number.
Business needs assistance in training future or current employees as specified in the training narrative below.
Business is able to contract for short-term training services and able to complete the training no later than November 30, 2020.
The funds must be used to cover employee training expenses and must be used by November 30, 2020.
Examples of fund use include:
A variety of short-term training and upskilling programs for employees, including: on-the-job, online, and classroom-based training.
Cover or supplement the employee’s wages while taking part in training.
Cover or supplement the cost of training (tuition, fees, or wages) delivered by a qualified trainer or training provider selected by the company.
Training can be used for existing employees, recalled employees, or new hires.
This is a competitive grant program. The company must submit proof-of-training and certificate conferred for each employee after the training has occurred.
This program is part of the package of COVID-19 responses proposed by Snohomish County Executive Somers, approved by the County Council, and funded by CARES Act resources. That package includes funding for Public Health and Emergency response activities, including PPE; economic stabilization; human/social services and housing; essential government services; and for emergency contingencies.
This grant program adds to the actions Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers has implemented to support businesses and workers, including:
Launch of two grant programs for small businesses.
Launch of a Blue Ribbon Economic and Workforce Recovery Taskforce and District Advisory Groups.
Creation of the Office of Economic Recovery and Resiliency.
Establishment of a Response Fund with the Community Foundation of Snohomish County and local partners.
Extension of a Deadline for Individual Property Taxpayers with County Treasurer Brian Sullivan.
Application materials are available at http://www.workforcesnohomish.org. Questions about the application should be directed to Workforce Snohomish at snocotraining@workforcesnohomish.org
For more general information, please go to https://www.snohomishcountywa.gov/5600/COVID-19-Business-Recovery, the County’s comprehensive page for residents and small businesses impacted by COVID-19.
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