The Glen Oaks Community College Board of Trustees has agreed to pursue a new job training program designed to offer local businesses flexible funding to meet a variety of training and student development needs.

Kari Scare, the Director of the Business Services/Apprenticeship Program at Glen Oaks Community College, informed the board about the program during the October Wednesday morning (October 14th).

The Michigan New Jobs Training Program (MNJTP) was explained as a valuable tool for employers to obtain the highly skilled and trained workers they need to be successful. The Michigan Community College Association (MCCA) said the innovative program, which has been successful in Iowa for over 20 years, is a unique collaboration between Michigan community colleges and businesses that are expanding or coming to Michigan.

Scare said funds for the job training program are attained through community colleges issuing debt or self-funding. The debt is then repaid to the college through a diversion of withholding taxes generated by the wages earned by the new employees. In other words, training of new employees is essentially paid by dollars that would otherwise have been paid to the state for withholding taxes. No new additional dollars are expended to cover the costs of training. Businesses can gain a competitive edge through virtually cost-free training of their new employees.

The Board of Trustees voted unanimously to pursue preliminary action regarding the program and look at financing options. Scare said she will begin talking with employers.

Scare said, “We expect to start slowly. This program has a lot of potential. Small companies can expand with this program and it is a great way for employee training.”  And board member David Allen added, “The MNJTP program offers good flexibility and is a good idea.”

Source:  News release from Glen Oaks Community College