{"id":11997,"date":"2012-10-16T07:35:43","date_gmt":"2012-10-16T13:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/?p=11997"},"modified":"2012-10-15T17:12:04","modified_gmt":"2012-10-15T23:12:04","slug":"idahos-worker-training-program-is-effective-less-than-half-of-the-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2012\/10\/16\/idahos-worker-training-program-is-effective-less-than-half-of-the-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Idaho’s Worker Training Program Is Effective Less Than Half Of The Time"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Emilie Ritter Saunders \/ StateImpact<\/p>

Meridian-based Western States Equipment uses training dollars in part to pay for its own training school.<\/p><\/div>\n

The state-sponsored program to train workers who are in danger of being laid-off is successful less than half the time.\u00a0 That’s according to a report released<\/a> by the Idaho Department of Labor, the agency that oversees the workforce development training fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The grant program<\/a> reimburses businesses that apply for help with the cost of training its existing employees or new hires.\u00a0 It’s paid for by a three percent tax on businesses.\u00a0 <\/strong>To qualify, a company must pay at least $12 per hour and include health benefits.\u00a0 A majority of their product or service must be sold out of their region, or be in the health care field.<\/p>\n

The department’s report looks at the workforce development training fund from 2000-2009.\u00a0 It finds of the 160 contracts approved over that time period, 40 percent were rated ‘effective’, while 33 percent were ‘ineffective’. <\/p>\n

In the department’s report, each of the 160 company contracts analyzed were scored based on seven factors:<\/p>\n

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