State Board awards Job Skills Program grants to colleges for business training

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges has awarded $1.1 million in matching grants for customized employee training programs for local businesses. The grants were awarded through the Job Skills Training Program, a dollar-for-dollar matching grant program. Community and technical colleges deliver training to new or current employees at the work site or in a classroom. Businesses contribute at least 50 percent of training expenses through cash, in-kind payments or a combination of both.

• Simpson Door through Grays Harbor College — $18,217 to develop a cohesive training program in leadership and supervision for employees. The training will focus on developing employees for supervisory positions and enhancing the skills of current supervisors.
• Royal Window and Door Profiles through Green River College and Everett Community College — $41,400 for employee training with a goal of improved quality, reduced attrition and increased promotional opportunities for participants.
• SAFE Boats through Tacoma Community College — $57,434 for training to certify employees in marine electrical, marine corrosion and marine systems. Participants will sit for an exam to earn a 5-year industry recognized credential. Participants will also be eligible for advanced positions throughout the company.
• Supply Chain Management Consortium through Green River College — $60,300 for training to improve skills of employees involved in the procurement, management and disposition of materials used in company products.
• Mega Machine through South Puget Sound Community College — $59,215 for an all-employee training in value stream mapping and LEAN principles to address waste reduction, improve process flow, reduce costs and improve quality.
• Crunch Pak through Wenatchee Valley College — $162,851 for training in English and workplace Spanish and LEAN principles.
• Fibro through Wenatchee Valley College — $95,000 to train employees in continuous improvement methodology.
• Oneonta Starr Ranch through Wenatchee Valley College — $22,500 to conduct a series of leadership courses for first-line supervisors with the goal of reducing turnover, accidents and repack costs.
• Umbra Cuscinetti through Seattle Colleges — $50,432 for LEAN training to improve capacity, reduce waste and maintain competitiveness.
• The Part Works through Seattle Colleges — $52,980 to continue training funded under a previous JSP grant with a goal of increasing sales, improving customer satisfaction, and reducing the number of shortages, stock-outs and staff errors.
• Hexcel through Green River College and Skagit Valley College — $155,100 to provide manufacturing training in general aerospace manufacturing, assembly, composites and lamination for 150 new employees.
• DeLaval through Skagit Valley College — $65,200 for training in LEAN manufacturing concepts and leadership with the goal of reducing costs, lead time and non-value added steps.
• Hampton Lumber through Centralia College — $77,588 for training in LEAN manufacturing and industrial automation with the goal of improving production quality.
• Esterline Technologies Corporation through Green River College — $133,900 to train and certify employees in the industry standard for electrical assembly. Funds will also be used to train in computer-aided manufacturing — GD&T and MasterCam — ESL for manufacturing and supervision for team leads.
• Lineage Logistics through Big Bend Community College — $48,409 to train employees for their commercial driver’s licenses (CDL).