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Workforce Training and Recruitment
Specialized Workforce Solutions Built to Company Needs
Spokane County is the largest labor market in Eastern Washington and North Idaho. As the education hub of the Inland Northwest with 18 universities and colleges located in the area, the county has a dependable source of employees who are well-trained, ready to work and valued for loyalty. Nearly 90,000 students study at area colleges and universities within an 80-mile radius of Spokane County, building the talent pool for the region. The county’s public and private higher education institutions work collaboratively with one another and the business community to support the needs of students and various industries seeking skilled talent from the graduating population. This ensures student success and a workforce developed specifically to meet the needs of business and industry.
Local Workforce Support
The Spokane region offers programs to benefit all stages of training and ensure the continued development of a highly engaged, motivated workforce equipped with ready-to-work skills.
Spokane Community College’s Center for Workforce & Continuing Education offers courses in:
- business and professional development
- computers and technology
- health and medical
- teacher education
- personal enrichment
These courses are designed to meet the needs of business and industry while advancing the skills of the regional workforce. Industry-driven professional development and certification courses are also offered, targeted to specific requests and open to the public.
The Spokane Area Workforce Development Council offers employers a comprehensive suite of services to assist with their recruiting and hiring needs, including job posting and screening, assessment testing, and on-the-job training. Along with community partners, the Spokane Area Workforce Development Council launched an initiative called Work Ready Spokane to provide workplace skill assessments that can be utilized by individual job seekers, employers, education institutions, and economic and workforce developers.
Impact Washington also provides programs and tools to make manufacturers more globally competitive. With a variety of consulting and training services, Impact Washington has a 20 year history of creating measurable impacts for manufacturers.
Statewide Training and Recruitment Efforts
Washington also offers workforce training and recruitment programs statewide to support the initial and on-going recruitment needs of employers.
- The Job Skills Program provides funding for customized, short-term and job-specific training for eligible businesses using dollar-for-dollar matching grants. The program supports new employee training, current employee retraining, current employee upgrading and industry initiatives.
- Washington state’s 10 Centers of Excellence are hosted by community and technical colleges throughout the state. They are designed to build and sustain Washington’s competitive advantage through statewide leadership. They provide information about industry needs, job seeker and recruitment resources, and customized training for each of the target industries.
- Through the Washington Customized Training Program eligible businesses receive customized employee training. The level of customization ranges from existing training curriculum delivered at the job site to fully customized training curriculum developed exclusively for the business.
- Choose Washington offers Washington businesses a one-stop resource for employee training through public-private partnerships and at community and technical colleges across the state. Employee training programs can be designed and delivered to requested specifications for business-dedicated training.
Training Funds
Various funds are available to offset the cost of training new and incumbent workers, including Work Ready Spokane and Job Skills Program.