| Pacific
Cabinets receives training grant
Pacific Cabinets will use a $63,170 Workforce Development Training Grant from the Idaho Department of Labor to train 11 new and retrain 11 current permanent, full-time workers at its Ferdinand manufacturing facility. New positions include engineer technicians, CNC (computer numerically controlled) programmers, finish carpenters and fabricators. Average hourly wages for the new workers will be $15.64 plus employer-assisted medical benefits. Hourly wages for existing workers – project engineers, managers, supervisors – will increase to an average of $22.18 per hour plus employer-assisted medical benefits. Some funds will go toward train-the-trainer programs for company staff to develop in-house structured on-the-job training for new and existing workers. The 37-year-old company manufactures countertops, millwork, cabinets, casework and specialty products for several industries, including health care, education and lab facilities. Idaho’s Workforce Development Training Fund, established in 1996, is used to reimburse businesses for the cost of training new workers or retraining existing workers who would otherwise be laid off. Eligible businesses must produce a product or service sold outside their region, and the jobs must pay at least $12 an hour and include employer-assisted health insurance. The fund is financed by a 3 percent set-aside of the unemployment insurance taxes paid by businesses each year. |
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