Training program paying off in Idaho

Fund to develop Idaho work force bringing new dollars into state

Buck Knives is moving to Post Falls with a $750,000 pledge from the state of Idaho. For every worker who the company trains and hires, the state will reimburse Buck Knives as much as $3,000.

Becky Kramer
Staff writer

The money comes from the state’s Workforce Development Training Fund, which has pumped nearly $3.5 million into North Idaho since its inception in 1996.

"It’s one of our most effective recruitment tools, especially in a down economy," Gov. Dirk Kempthorne said Wednesday. "Training new workers can be a major up-front cost to companies. If we can help them with that, it’s a real savings."

Buck Knives announced Tuesday that it would move its headquarters and production facilities from a suburb of San Diego to Post Falls in early 2004. The plant will employ between 200 and 250 people, and pay about $12 an hour for assembly line workers, according to what the state has gleaned from early conversations with the company. President and CEO CJ Buck was not available Wednesday to comment on wage rates.

Buck Knives contacted the state of Idaho in 2001, when it began searching for a lower-cost location. Training money was the first inducement the state offered.

"It’s one of the few, cash-on-the-barrel incentives that Idaho has to attract new business here," said Dwight Johnson, spokesman for the Idaho Department of Labor.

The Workforce Development Training Fund gets its money from unemployment insurance taxes paid by businesses. Three percent of the taxes collected flow into the fund, an amount between $2 million to $3million annually.

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At a glance
Money distribution

Other North Idaho companies that received state work force training dollars since 1996: Advanced Input Devices : $59,666
Center Partners : $2.37 million
Coldwater Creek : $44,125
Dakotah Direct : $129,752
Silver Needle: $8,152
Tele-Servicing Innovations: $69,396
Source: Idaho Department of Labor

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New and expanding companies can apply for the training money for their employees. The money is awarded to firms that sell products and services outside of their immediate region.

"Its target is to bring new dollars into an area, so it’s true economic development," Johnson said.

Call centers and manufacturing firms have been the biggest users of the fund. Center Partners received nearly $2.4 million from the fund to train more than 1,000 call center employees in Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls.

Unicep Packaging in Sandpoint currently has a $90,000 contract to train 45 workers in assembly line production, quality control and other tasks.

"It’s been a tremendous help to us as we’ve gone through a period of rapid sales growth and product demand. … Unless you have people who are trained, you can’t deliver," said Steve Dilts, director of sales and marketing for Unicep, which packages health and cosmetic products.

North Idaho’s experience recruiting Harpers Inc. in the early 1990s helped lead to the creation of the fund.

In 1994, Bob Potter of Jobs Plus was trying to bring Harpers Inc., an office furniture maker, to Post Falls. He was in competition with Oregon and Utah, states that were able to each pledge $1 million in retraining dollars.

"I had nothing at all," Potter said. "All I had was free land. I went down to talk to Governor Andrus, and he gave me $150,000 or $200,000 out of his budget. He sent me to talk to the Department of Commerce."

By cobbling money together from several sources, Potter raised $700,000 in training dollars to offer to Harpers. The company moved from California to Post Falls.

"Harpers and other businesses like them were sort of the genesis for the fund," Johnson said. "Business executives said, `We have a real need for this tool."’

The fund has raised more than $22million to train more than 11,000 Idaho workers since 1996. The state Legislature reauthorized the program when it expired last year.

The program also benefits Idaho’s community college system. North Idaho College’s Workforce Training Program has worked with many of the local companies who received the funding, in some cases even writing the training curriculum, said Robert Ketchum, executive director.

"It helps us build a long-term relationship with the company," Ketchum said.

•Business writer Becky Kramer can be reached at (208) 765-7122 or by e-mail at [email protected]

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