Workforce Development
The Existing Business Resource unit consists of three distinct core programs and services to help Arkansas businesses.
The Business and Industry Training Program, the Existing Workforce Training Program and 12 Area Representatives who are located across the state to assist companies with their day-to-day problems and needs.
Workforce development is a priority of the state's technical colleges and institutes, which work with local business and industry to meet existing and new workforce needs. More than 95% of the state's population lives within a 30-mile radius of one of these institutions.
Relying on extensive employer involvement, the Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges developed the Workforce Readiness Curriculum. The association's Workforce Consortium serves more than 2,100 Arkansas businesses each year.
The Arkansas Delta Training and Education Consortium, which consists of four community colleges in eastern Arkansas, will share in a $5.9 million grant that will prepare workers for advanced manufacturing careers as part of President George Bush's High Growth Job Training Initiative. Mid-South Community College in West Memphis opened a world-class automotive/ manufacturing training facility in early 2006.
The Economic Development Commission's regionally based coordinators develop customized training programs for existing companies and assist with the formation of local workforce development consortia, formal organizations of businesses and industries that identify common training needs in the community. Consortia - as well as individual companies - are eligible for training grants from the Department's Existing Workforce Training Program. Currently there are 11 active consortia, plus five more being developed.
Arkansas' Workforce Investment Board coordinates one-stop centers throughout the state to ensure consistent training for jobs in Arkansas.
The Arkansas Technical Careers Student Loan Forgiveness Program was designed to attract students to the high-demand fields of advanced manufacturing, computer/information technology, and biomedical/ biotechnology. The program forgives college loans for students who work in Arkansas in these areas after graduation. As of October 2005, loan repayments have totaled approximately $3.2 million to the 1,350 eligible graduates, while the annual payroll of the students receiving loan repayments has totaled $21.7 million. The median salary of those who graduate with a bachelor's degree is $39,000. Currently, more than 1,200 students are "in the pipeline."
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