Businesses earn incentives to enhance staffers’ skills

It may have a bulky name, but Louisiana’s Incumbent Worker Training Program, part of the Louisiana Workforce Commission, is the state’s main channel for participating in private-sector workforce development.

The program has provided around $200 million in state funds to businesses in Louisiana to help train their workers since it began in 1999, said Lasonta Jones, the Commission’s outreach coordinator, at a Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce meeting last week.

Businesses apply for funding and, if approved, contract with a training provider to work with their employees to enhance their skills. Owners are reimbursed by the state for payments to the training provider.

Companies should take greater advantage of the funding, Jones said, though they have increasingly responded to the program, which is supported by unemployment insurance taxes paid by businesses in the state. More than 184,000 private-sector employees have received training paid through the program, most coming on since 2004.

Only companies paying unemployment insurance taxes can receive training grants. Around 80,000 businesses in the state pay unemployment insurance taxes.

The Louisiana Workforce Commission, formerly the Louisiana Department of Labor, gave out $1 million the first year of the program’s existence. The amount rose to $40 million in 2005 before falling off because of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

In 2008, the program has $35 million, Jones said.

The Louisiana Department of Labor expanded the program twice since it began. The mass of funds, around 99 percent, has gone toward the Customized Training portion, which requires a company to have at least 15 employees to qualify for grants.

In 2004, the program implemented a Small Business Employee Training portion, providing grants to businesses in the state with 50 or fewer employees.

Last year, the program absorbed the Louisiana Department of Economic Development’s pre-employment training division, dedicating 10 percent of funding to businesses training potential employees. Companies have to pay half the cost of training these potential hires and agree to employ at least some of them.

Businesses in the Tri-parish area using Incumbent Worker Training Program funds include Synergy Bank, John Deere, Crosby Tugs, Phylway Construction, Wood Group energy company, Ace Hardware, Tint Masters, and Baby Oil Inc.

Houma-Terrebonne Chamber President Drake Pothier urged businesses in the parish to use the program.

Call 1-866-725-IWTP for more information.