TRAVERSE CITY — Forty-two companies in 10 counties received more than $1.28 million for training as part of the state’s Going Pro Talent Fund.
All of the employers who requested funds within the 10-county region serviced by Northwest Michigan Works! received awards. According to a release, the $1,288,698 will go toward training 1,223 new and existing employees and create 53 new apprenticeships.
The funding for Northwest Michigan Works! employers was part of a statewide award of $39,015,052 in 2021. The 2021 Going PRO Talent Fund is expected to assist nearly 30,000 workers to “secure employment, industry-recognized credentials, and strong wages by providing training grants to more than 850 Michigan businesses to support their high-demand, high-skill talent needs.”
The release said the training “must fill a demonstrated talent need experienced by the employer and lead to a credential for a skill that is transferable and recognized by the industry.”
“Now more than ever, we need to invest in our talent and businesses to ensure strong economic recovery and growth,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in the release. “Programs like the Going PRO Talent Fund allow us to put Michiganders on the path to good paying jobs while helping Michigan employers develop the critical talent they need to compete in the global economy.”
Companies receiving Going PRO Talent Fund grants in the 10-counties served by Northwest Michigan Works! are:
- Grand Traverse: Great Lakes Children’s Museum ($990); PACE North ($9,000); Precision Plumbing & Heating Systems, Inc. ($24,000); Dan Brady Painting ($25,500); Grand Traverse Industries, Inc. ($2,405); Venturi ($24,050); Safety Net ($1,500); Century Specialties ($16,500); Monarch Home Health Services ($10,275); Photodon ($7,500); Cordia Senior Living at Grand Traverse Commons ($6,000); United Engineered Technologies ($33,000); Skilled Manufacturing, Inc. ($26,025); Lear Corporation ($42,000); Shoreline Fruit ($22,500).
- Benzie: Biotech Agronomics, Inc. ($10,500); Honor Bank ($9,290); Crystal Mountain Resort ($26,952).
- Emmet: Bear River Electric ($7,500); OHM Advisors ($12,565); Boyne Highlands Resort ($13,995); Jervis B. Webb Co. ($75,720); Petoskey Plastics ($53,100); White & Liebler Architects ($7,500).
- Charlevoix: Wolfline Construction-Boyne City ($88,500); Beards Brewery ($4,925); East Jordan Ironworks ($75,380); MDC Contracting Concrete Block ($44,550); MDC Contracting Field Division ($34,155); MDC Contracting-Redi Mix ($49,005); Great Lakes Energy Cooperative, Inc. ($22,500); St. Mary Cement ($31,732); Boyne Mountain Resort ($13,900).
- Kalkaska: Kalkaska Memorial Health Center ($30,000).
- Manistee: MR Products ($36,134).
- Wexford: Spencer Plastics, Inc. ($48,975); Rexair, LLC ($60,925); AAR Mobility Systems ($67,424); Cadillac Family Physicians PC ($13,953); Cadillac Fabrication ($24,225); Rec Boat Holdings, LLC ($160,800); FIAMM Technologies ($13,248).
Fifteen employers in the Michigan Works! Northeast Consortium received a total of $598,940 Going PRO Talent Fund grants to businesses in Otsego, Cheboygan, Crawford, Presque Isle, Alpena and Genesee counties. A full list of Going PRO Talent Fund grants is available at www.Michigan.gov/TalentFund.
According to a release, more than 3,000 Michigan businesses have received Talent Fund awards since the program began in 2014. The fund has supported the training of more than 94,000 workers over that period.
