West Palm Beach, Florida -- Workforce Alliance awarded $546,994 in training grants to nineteen Palm Beach County employers during the past program year (July 2007 – June 2008), resulting in job-related skills improvement training for over 450 employees.

The federally funded program, entitled “Employed Worker Training,” is intended to help expand the economy of the County by helping Palm Beach County businesses provide their current employees with additional skills and opportunities for advancement rather than seeking them elsewhere.

Kathryn Schmidt, President and Chief Executive Officer of Workforce Alliance, pointed out, “The total impact of the grants was over $1,800,000 since the businesses that received the awards added a total of over $1,300,000 of their own funds to conduct the training.  The companies benefit through increased productivity, employee retention and bottom line profits so it just makes good sense that this taxpayer-funded program also requires that each participating employer share in the total cost.”

The Palm Beach County employers that received the awards included Atlas Sign Industries, Southern Shore Millworks, Coastal Millworks, Real-Time Laboratories, Hollander Home Fashions and Quantachrome.

Barbara Laing, Chief Human Resource Officer for Atlas Sign Industries, credited the Workforce Alliance training for “elevating the skills of our employees.”  David Lyons, Vice President of HR/Training at IBM Southeast Employees’ Federal Credit Union, said that “the return on investment is higher employee morale, greater bench strength, lower turnover, increased productivity, and customer satisfaction.”   In addition, he said, “I am especially pleased that as a result of training funded by Workforce Alliance, an employee was promoted to a management position. What more proof could you want to see that the program is working!”

Jude Ezeilo, Controller for Real-Time Laboratories, LLC, said the training was “extremely beneficial to the operations and administration of our organization. We have been able to attain an increase in productivity and greater efficiency overall.”

Christine Sorensen , PHR, of the Engenuity Group said that the EWT grant “is an excellent program for both the employee and employer.  It gives our staff the opportunity to increase their knowledge and skills, and in return we can provide our clients better service.  It’s a win win situation for all.” 

Workforce Alliance is chartered by the State of Florida to develop and manage a workforce system in Palm Beach County and is the local recipient of federal taxpayer dollars earmarked to assist local employers in need of such programs as employee training.  “You have already paid for it,” CEO Kathryn Schmidt often stresses to employers, “so why not use it?”

Palm Beach County businesses that are interested in obtaining more information or eligibility criteria for similar training grants should contact Jackie Halderman, Workforce Alliance, (561) 340-1060, ext. 2382. Information and application procedures are also available on line at www.pbcalliance.com