Editor’s note: This is the second in a three-part series on employer services provided by OhioMeansJobs Champaign County to help local businesses retain their workforce through training that prepares valued employees for new skills, technology and career advancement. Other employer services featured in this series include On-the-Job Training and Registered Apprenticeships.
Incumbent Worker Training funding, available through OhioMeansJobs Champaign County, helps employers provide their current employees training to upgrade skills so they can advance in the company or avoid being laid off due to lacking skills necessary for evolving business needs and new technology.
“If an employer has someone who has proven they are a valuable employee and good for the culture there, they can help advance that person with training, and through the Incumbent Worker Training program, we can assist with the cost of the training,” says Andrea Mitchell, OMJCC business services representative.
The program can also help employees gain new certifications or training in new technologies that may be required for their employer to successfully compete in the marketplace.
Mitchell adds that the program helps employers avoid the time and cost of recruiting new employees who already have the required technical skills but are in short supply. “We take the approach of helping employers grow skilled employees from within.”
The Incumbent Worker Training program provides employers 50 percent reimbursement of approved training costs. As a condition of eligibility, employers commit to retaining employees who complete training through the program, to help increase the competitiveness of the employer and employee.
Stacy Cox, director of the Champaign County Department of Job and Family Services, said, “We encourage local employers to reach out to us if they have employees they want to complete additional training.”
Amy Sherman, OMJCC workforce supervisor, said, “Incumbent Worker Training is an employer service, so there are no eligibility requirements for employees. It’s up to the employer which employees they want to provide training. The employer knows their employees better than we ever could.”
Another benefit of Incumbent Worker Training, she adds, is that providing current employees additional training “to move up in the company opens ground floor opportunities for younger people to join the workforce.”
To learn more about the Incumbent Worker Training program, call OhioMeansJobs Champaign County at 937-484-1581. OMJCC is available to provide employers presentations – onsite or virtually – about the Incumbent Worker Training program and other OMJCC workforce training services.
