New Hampshire employers will receive much-needed investments in workforce skills training as a result of grants announced by the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs.

The public-private Job Training Fund investments will result in over $400,000 to be used for skills enhancement training for over 800 New Hampshire workers.

Taylor Caswell, commissioner of the Department of Business and Economic Affairs, said the grants signify new efforts, coupled with smart investments, to engage businesses in education and training to enhance workforce development in New Hampshire.

Employers, he said, are aware of the state’s workforce challenges and responding by increasing their investment in skills training.

“While we are certainly happy with the state’s low unemployment rate, it also means we need to have useful strategies to attract new talent and train our current workforce,” he said. “The Job Training Fund is a great example of the types of public/private partnership we are developing and we know work best for New Hampshire.  These efforts include high growth sector-based initiatives, apprenticeships, and On-The-Job training. All awards under the Job Training Fund are matched by the employer, which makes this program a true public-private partnership in New Hampshire and gets everyone a great bang for the buck.”

Caswell also noted that this year’s demand for training programs is approximately twice that of last year.

“Our employers need this program, and I think it’s fair to say based on the demand, it’s working,” he said.

Grants were awarded to:

• D. Bean & Sons Co., of Jaffrey;  $1,940 to train 10 employees in intermediate and advanced Quickbooks, and intermediate/ddvanced Microsoft Excel, at Nashua Community College;
• L. King & Associates of Nashua; $982.50 for one employee to obtain a construction superintendent certification from the New Hampshire/Vermont Association of Builders and Contractors;
• WH Bagshaw of Nashua; $1,500 to train 10 employees in GDT/blueprint reading at Nashua Community College;
• Benchmark Senior Living LLC, with five facilities in New Hampshire; $46,900 for 45 workers to receive LNA training from LNA Health Careers; medication nursing assistant training from Manchester Community College, and training in quality service, quality excellence and business excellence from the Disney Institute;
• Northeast Delta Dental of Concord, $7,500; Red River Computer Co., of Claremont, $7,500, and Mascoma Bank, $9,750, for training a total of  10 employees in the University of New Hampshire’s New Level Leadership Consortium Program.
• Vapotherm Inc., of Exeter; $60,000 for training 100 employees at Nashua Community College in Lean Process Improvement; injection molding; quality-risk project management; customer service, and management and leadership practices;
• Lindt & Sprungli USA of Stratham;  $65,950 for 626 workers to participate in the Train the Trainer program and English as a Second Language, both at Great Bay Community College; the mechanics training program at Scientific Management Technologies; Ametrol eLearning with Technical Education Products Inc., and power lift training by Safe Lifting Techniques.

For more information about the New Hampshire Job Training Fund, visit nhjobtrainingfund.org.