WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT FOR OUTDOOR BUSINESSES
Who will I hire? Where can I find dedicated, trained professionals to join my team? What programs are available to help train my current staff?
Vermont is the birthplace of manufacturing in the United States and our highly-skilled labor pool is known for its strong work ethic and attention to craftsmanship. Today, we nurture that workforce with a variety of specialized training programs aimed at employers. Vermont is ranked among the top states in the nation for its education. In addition, with 40,000 students attending Vermont’s 25 highly-regarded colleges and universities, businesses have continual access to new young talent.
Preparing your workforce
Vermont has several different programs that can help train and fund Vermont’s workforce for today’s competitive job market.
Vermont Training Program can offset a portion of the cost of customized training for employers hiring new employees as well as to upgrade the cost of training. The program’s goal is to prepare Vermonters for good paying jobs available from our many diversified employers and works in a variety of sectors.
Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center can help institute lean manufacturing and innovation engineering at an employer’s workplace.
Workforce Education and Training Fund can also provide assistance to employers and training providers to help train Vermont’s workforce for good jobs. Administered by the Vermont Department of Labor, the program can fund a variety of training opportunities.
Vermont Apprenticeship Program is an employer-sponsored training program that includes both supervised work experience and related instruction. There are nearly 700 active apprentices in Vermont in over 25 different occupations. Employers participate in Registered Apprenticeship by "sponsoring" individuals as apprentices. The employer sets a progressive wage scale, agrees to provide supervised OJT, and helps financially support the related instruction component of the program.
Vermont Employment Growth Incentive (VEGI) offers an economic incentive for business recruitment, growth and expansion. The Vermont Employment Growth Incentive (VEGI) program can provide a cash payment, based on the revenue return generated to the State by prospective qualifying job and payroll creation and capital investments, to businesses that have been authorized to earn the incentive and who then meet performance requirements.
Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility has a program to match employers and students for paid internships.
The Vermont Student Assistance Corporation provides funding for job training and certification programs, including the Vermont Non-Degree Grant for Vermont residents enrolled in qualified non-degree courses or programs. Many Vermont colleges and universities and for profit and nonprofit organizations offer short-term certificate and training programs in addition to their full degree programs.
Finding your workforce
The Vermont Department of Labor (VDOL) can help you find employees at any one of 13 regional resource centers around the state. VDOL can list available jobs or provide services from recruitment to helping you screen and/or test initial applicants. Contact the Resource Center nearest you to discuss.
VDOL is also Vermont’s connection to federally funded workforce programs that help put Vermonters to work. This can include a Veterans' Tax Credit that can provide a $2,000 tax credit for hiring a recently separated veteran. In addition, the Workforce Opportunity Tax Credit provides an incentive to hire people in several targeted groups.
The New Worker Grant Program will be available in January 2020 and provide assistance to individuals who move to Vermont to work full-time for employers based in-state. Created by the Vermont Legislature, it is designed to encourage professionals interested in moving to Vermont to make the leap.
Vermont Talent Pipeline Management (VTPM)
The VTPM is a two-phased approach to rethinking the development and sourcing of Vermont’s future workforce by first, creating employer collaboratives that identify and communicate around shared employer needs to education providers, and secondly, then “value mapping” backwards by analyzing talent flows, and implementing performance measures and aligning incentives for education providers.