You may have seen billboards featuring the phrase “Going Pro” and wondered what it is. It’s the rebranding by the Whitmer administration of the job training program launched by the state under former Governor Rick Snyder seeking to help companies hire and train new workers. It’s worked very well under both administrations according to officials with Kinexus in Benton Harbor. Kinexus Group vice president of public relations and government affairs Al Pscholka says last year, almost four dozen companies in Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren counties received $2.1 million in awards from the program.
“We’ve been very successful in our corner of the state in securing a number of funds for our companies,” Pscholka said at Kinexus’ quarterly business roundtable discussion on Tuesday. “So even though we’re a small piece of the puzzle, we got 45 last year.”
That money helped to hire and train over 19-hundred people. Kinexus Group CEO Todd Gustafson says the grants are competitive and employers need to lead with their best foot forward to obtain the funding.
“Since it’s competitive, we want to get the word out there and make sure that we’re helping whoever has any interest or need for this to upscale their workforce, grow their business,” said Gustafson.
Challenges remain, however, including the fact the population of the tri-county area has fallen by 1.4% from 2010 to 2018, and Michigan’s workforce is aging, as we are the 11th oldest state in the nation according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
