Grant could provide high-tech training

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Looking to increase the education level of 214 local workers, the Workforce Investment Board at the Missouri Career Center-Ozark Region applied for an H-1B Technical Skills Training Grant totaling $954,000.|ret||ret||tab|

The grant, coupled with funding from seven local companies, would go toward helping workers obtain degrees or certifications specific to high-tech occupations.|ret||ret||tab|

A response from the Department of Labor is anticipated in late September or early October.|ret||ret||tab|

The grant would cover half of the tuition, books and costs associated with training 164 workers who are already employed in what are considered high-tech fields but need additional training. Each participating employer Hiland Dairy, Diesel Exchange, Scott Consulting Engineers, McKesson, Karmak, Central Technology Services and Remote Support Services has agreed to pay the remaining 50 percent. The grant would be administered by the Missouri Career Center. |ret||ret||tab|

An additional 50 unemployed or under-employed individuals will be identified by the Missouri Career Center to take part in the training. |ret||ret||tab|

"Of these 50, 100 percent of their training will be scholarship-funded. It will be paid for without any cost to them," said John Peine, a work force development specialist with Missouri Career Center. "They're going to be set on a path that will eventually lead them to (a high-tech) position."|ret||ret||tab|

Similar grants have been made in Kansas City and St. Louis, each for $3 million. |ret||ret||tab|

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Education, training|ret||ret||tab|

The training is designed to reduce or eliminate the need to bring in foreign workers to fill jobs that companies are having difficulty staffing from the local work force. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1990 set up the H-1B Visa, which issues temporary visas for employers to bring foreign workers to the United States. The $1,000 fee employers pay for each H-1B Visa goes to a grant fund for training U.S. workers.|ret||ret||tab|

In order to receive training through the grant, jobs must train workers in high technology; information technology; architecture, engineering and surveying; biomedical research and manufacturing; or advanced manufacturing technology. The training must result in the worker earning a bachelor's degree or higher, or certification or licensure by a recognized professional licensing body or by the state. If funded, training must be completed within the three-year term of the grant. A fourth year allows those involved in longer-term programs, such as a doctorate, to finish.|ret||ret||tab|

While there are colleges and universities producing high-technology-related degrees and credentials, the volume of qualified workers is not meeting the demand. Within the seven counties comprising the Ozark region Christian, Dallas, Greene, Polk, Stone, Taney and Webster only 15.6 percent of the population has a bachelor's degree or higher and 1.17 percent has graduate or professional degrees.|ret||ret||tab|

"It's not a reflection necessarily on the schools as it is on the demand for these types of employees and the difficulty which a lot of high school students and college students have in being able to afford to go to school and obtain these advanced degrees and these certifications because it's very expensive," said Becky Quinn, a work-force development specialist with the dislocated worker program at the Missouri Career Center.|ret||ret||tab|

The expense varies according to the type of certification or degree, the length of the program and where the training takes place. The Microsoft Certified Engineer programs that Karmak Inc. and Remote Support Services plan on sending employees to cost about $8,000 per person.|ret||ret||tab|

"The 50 percent (cost) is going to be a burden, and it's going to be difficult for me to come up with it, but I'll find a way," said Kalon Mitchell, president of Remote Support Services in Ozark. The company, founded in 1986, has 15 employees and creates software for the health care industry. "The $8,000 is a pretty stiff fee but for $4,000 I just can't afford to pass it up."|ret||ret||tab|

If the grant is funded, Mitchell plans to send eight employees to two-week boot camps in order to earn Microsoft certification. In addition, new programmers will attend New Horizons Learning Center in Springfield for a month of half-day training for ".Net" programming that Mitchell said is not taught at area colleges or universities. |ret||ret||tab|

"Until SMS starts teaching it, we just won't get people that walk in and know (.Net)," Mitchell said.|ret||ret||tab|

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Employee retention|ret||ret||tab|

Mitchell has outsourced programming jobs to India in the past. Communication with employees and their lack of basic understanding of the American health care system left him with the desire to hire U.S. citizens as programmers.|ret||ret||tab|

"(This grant) makes me want to keep those people that I trained and not lay them off, but that's true of all my employees that have spent time with me," Mitchell said. |ret||ret||tab|

The Springfield office of Karmak Inc. has used H-1B Visa workers in the past, but does not have any on staff at this time. |ret||ret||tab|

"The ability to train existing personnel who have a knowledge of the industry, who have a knowledge of our products, and get them the certification and training to update them on the latest technology available is of great value to us," said Chuck Scahill, vice president of operations at Karmak Inc.|ret||ret||tab|

Of the 38 employees in the Springfield office, Scahill said at least 32 would participate in the training if the grant is funded, and possibly all 38 will receive training at some level. Karmak writes software for heavy-duty truck dealerships.|ret||ret||tab|

Karmak plans to use the option of soft matches toward meeting its required 50 percent contribution, including using the company's onsite facilities for training classes.|ret||ret||tab|

Mitchell and Scahill said employees are excited about what the future may hold. One of Mitchell's employees was saving money to attend Microsoft boot camp during his vacation. "When he found out that I was willing to pay for it and he could go on company time, he was just elated," Mitchell said.|ret||ret||tab|

Neither Karmak nor Remote Support Services has an H-1B Visa employee, but both companies are eligible to participate in the grant. |ret||ret||tab|

"The companies that are our partners don't necessarily have foreign workers working for them right now. They're wanting to train their existing employees so they can avoid having to look overseas for high-technology skilled employees," Quinn said.|ret||ret||tab|

In addition to making employees more responsive to customers' needs, Scahill said the training would make employees more marketable. But he isn't worried about losing employees once training is complete. "All of our employees are pretty loyal to our company, so this is just another way for us to reinforce the fact that we value that loyalty."|ret||ret||tab|

Quinn said that adding professional credentials to a work environment increases productivity and efficiency. "It should be a way to motivate employees because it's a real positive benefit for them. I would hope that it would add to one's sense of loyalty and desire to contribute to the benefit of the organization at a higher level."|ret||ret||tab|

Loyalty to the United States also is a factor. |ret||ret||tab|

"The ultimate goal of the H-1B program is that by making citizen employees more productive with advanced degrees and certifications, the United States becomes less dependent on bringing foreign high-skilled workers to the United States," Quinn said.|ret||ret||tab|

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Local impact|ret||ret||tab|

Along with increased training, productivity and putting more citizens to work, the grant could also help the area economy. |ret||ret||tab|

"A lot of this training is local, so we're going to be paying for training in different institutions," Peine said. "Then each of these employers agreed that once this person is trained and in a position, then they will get promoted or get a raise. It's going to elevate the income levels of these folks."|ret||ret||tab|

If the grant is not approved, revisions may be made to the application and it may be resubmitted. |ret||ret||tab|

"If they say no, it's not the end at all," Quinn said. "If we make changes that satisfy the committee, then possibly in a second round of funding the Ozark region could be funded."|ret||ret||tab|

Quinn said that the planning process has developed a positive concept of partnering with local businesses. "Whether or not this gets funded, we have some systems that we've developed and some relationships that we intend to continue to nurture."|ret||ret||tab|

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