The Rhode Island Technology Council is scheduled to reveal one of the state’s best kept secrets this Friday when it hosts a seminar on the Project Upgrade Jobs Skills Training Grants.
Okay so they won’t exactly be revealing anything new, but the meeting will serve as a reminder to RItech members that there are some state funds available to offset certain training costs. A big help for any high tech company that needs to upgrade employees’ computer skills and wants to stay competitive in an increasingly tough marketplace.
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”We want to let information technology companies understand that this is a program available to them as an employer,” explained Tom Mulhearn, RItech’s executive director.
Project Upgrade, he added, is something that is not necessarily widely known, but could help high tech companies keep up with programs and equipment that change with great frequency. Many computers and software programs change completely within the span of two to three years, so even newly graduated college students might not be trained in the latest and greatest programs, Mulhearn said.
For instance, workers who’ve passed the Microsoft Certified Engineer program are in great demand now, he explained. It can cost $7,000 to $8,000 for a company to send a worker to a Microsoft certified program and finish a series of six courses. RItech is now trying to help member companies save money on the certification program by offering the program locally for $5,400, according to Mulhearn. Project Upgrade could help small companies pay for the program, he added.
“In an IT world continuing education or constant professional development is going to be a fact of life, so that’s why it’s critical the state have resources available,” he said.
”This is a state program,” Mulhearn said. “Its purpose is for professional development of your current employees. You should know it’s available.”
Project Upgrade is administered through the state’s three Private Industry Councils and each organization has a specific set of eligibility criteria, according to Bob Gentile, who is the Northern Rhode Island PIC’s training program specialist. It has been around for about eight years and the money comes from an unemployment tax paid by business owners, he explained. Funds are available to all types of businesses, not just the high tech industry.
”We’re finding more and more companies all the time that are not aware of it. We try to market it as best we can,” Gentile said.
At the Northern Rhode Island PIC, which covers eight communities, businesses with fewer than 200 employees can qualify for up to $5,000 in grant money each fiscal year, Gentile said. Companies, however, must provide matching funds. Last fiscal year about 100 companies in northern Rhode Island shared more than $250,000 in grant money and trained about 700 workers, he added.
Companies can apply to use the money for a variety of projects, including training workers to use new machinery, equipment, and software. Among the other types of training it covers are supervisory training, inventory control systems, and production methods for new products a company may be launching.
Software and machinery trainings are “arguably the most popular uses” for the Project Upgrade funds, Gentile said.
A single business can apply for funds, as well as a group of companies that have similar training needs working together as a consortium, according to officials from the Northern Rhode Island PIC. Gentile also said that they will fund programs where a company brings a trainer in to their facility, or where an employee must be sent somewhere else for training.
”It’s very flexible; we look for ways for it to fit the company’s training needs,” he said.
“When the company has employees whose skills are up there, they are operating in optimum conditions, their productivity increases,” Gentile said. “Quite honestly for a company not to take advantage of it, I’d be hard pressed to come up with a good reason.”
The RItech meeting is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 26, from 8 to 10 a.m. at 640 George Washington Highway, Lincoln. For more information call Tom Mulhearn at (401) 334-1171.
