Governor Hassan Announces Six New Job Training Fund Grants for NH Companies

Office of New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan

Matching Grants Will Help Train 246 Workers in New Skills

CONCORD – As part of her effort to support programs that help New Hampshire workers develop the skills needed for jobs in the 21^st century economy, Governor Hassan announced today six new Job Training Fund grants totaling more than $151,000. The grants will be used to train 246 workers in new skills.

The six companies matched the awards, bringing the total funds for training workers to more than $302,000.

“I am proud to announce another round of important grants to help prepare workers for good jobs at New Hampshire’s growing businesses,” said Governor Hassan. “New Hampshire’s job training fund is a critical resource that has provided important skills to thousands of workers. We must continue to focus on job training and higher education to help ensure that our workforce is as highly skilled as possible in order to attract innovative businesses and create jobs.”

Altronics Manufacturing, of Hudson, will train 15 workers in QSL, sales and customer service after receiving a $3,690 grant and matching it with company funds.

Substructure, Inc., of Portsmouth, received a grant of up to $12,912.74 for training seven employees in Hydrographics, project management, heavy equipment, welding and crane operation using Mosiac, New Horizons and others as trainers.

Hutchinson Sealing Systems, Inc., of Newfields, received a grant of $20,316.30 and will train 10 workers in Tool&Die, Machinist, Electrical and other courses using Great Bay Community College, UNH and other trainers.

Alene Candles, LLC, of Milford, received a $64,772.50 grant and matched it to train up to 158 employees in computer and systems training, LEAN Six Sigma, leadership, supply chain management and workplace compliance using NH Manufacturing Extension Partnership and others for trainers.

PixelMEDIA, Inc., of Portsmouth, received a $47,163.50 training grant and matched that amount to train up to 55 employees in web development, IT, leadership, marketing, management and other subjects using a variety of trainers.

Associated Grocers of New England, Inc., of Pembroke, will have one employee trained for a CD-L using Lakes Region Community College as a trainer. The grant award was $2,345.

The Job Training Fund has awarded $5,635,284 in grants since October 2007, with employers contributing $8,218,136 for a total of $13,853,420 in new training for 16,824 New Hampshire workers.

Companies interested in applying to the Job Training Fund should visit the JTF web site at www.nhjobtrainingfund.org.

Governor Hassan Announces Job Training Fund Grant Awards for Six NH Companies

Office of New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan

Matching Grants Will Help Train 97 Workers in New Skills

CONCORD – Continuing her efforts to ensure New Hampshire workers have the skills needed for jobs in the innovation economy, Governor Hassan announced today six new Job Training Fund grants totaling $47,577.25. The grants, administered by the Department of Resources and Economic Development and acting Commissioner Philip R. Bryce, will be used to train 97 workers in new skills.

The six companies contributed $48,677.25 in matching funds, bringing the total funds for training workers to $96,254.50.

“I am proud to announce these critical funds to help prepare workers for good jobs at New Hampshire’s growing businesses,” Governor Hassan said.  “New Hampshire’s job training fund is a critical resource that has provided important skills to thousands of workers. We need to continue working to ensure that our workforce is as highly skilled as possible to attract innovative businesses with good jobs that can support middle-class families.”

Eptam Plastics of Northfield received a grant of $18,375 to train up to 28 employees in Manufacturing Fundamentals at Manchester Community College and using Skye Business Solutions for training in Professional Development.

Princeton Technology Corp. of Hudson received a grant of $812.50 and matched it with its own funds for training from UNH for five employees in “Essentials of Leadership”.

Haydon Kerk Motion Solutions will use its $3,800 grant award for training two workers in the Lean Enterprise Certificate Program, training performed by Manchester Community College and the NH Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

Exchange Networks LLC of Jaffrey will match its $18,000 grant award to train seven employees in product and sales development using Robert Sales Training Associates as trainer.

Teleflex Medical of Jaffrey received a $4,144.75 grant award for training 40 employees in Mentoring, Teamwork and LEAN using Manchester Community College and NHMEP as trainers.

ABTech, Inc., of Swanzey  received a $2,445 grant for training up to 15 workers in Managing Change, Communications and Workplace Goals using The Sarson Group as trainer.

The Job Training Fund has awarded $5,436,507 in grants since October 2007, with employers contributing $8,018,258 for a total of $13,454,766 in new training for 16,481 New Hampshire workers.

Companies interested in applying to the Job Training Fund should visit the JTF web site at www.nhjobtrainingfund.org.

Governor Hassan Announces $1.6 Million Federal Grant to Help NH Improve Health Care Through Innovation

Office of NH Governor Maggie Hassan

Funds Will Allow State to Develop Comprehensive Health Innovation Plan

CONCORD - Governor Maggie Hassan announced today that the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services has been awarded up to $1.6 million in federal funds to develop a State Health Care Innovation Plan to improve quality and reduce growth in health care costs through improved coordination. The State Innovation Model grant program, issued by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation and made possible by the Affordable Care Act, will allow New Hampshire to develop a strategy to transform the health care delivery system through multi-payer payment reform and other state initiatives.

"Innovating in health care is critical for reducing the growth in health care costs and improving the quality of care for all of our people," said Governor Hassan. "New Hampshire has led the way in health care innovation through initiatives like accountable care organizations, and these federal funds will allow us to develop a comprehensive strategy to continue our progress and strengthen our health care system."

New Hampshire's plan will lay out a framework for aligning consumer access across delivery system "silos," payer support for outcomes-based long term care services, and global accountability for cost-effectiveness and outcomes.

A central tenet of the transformation activities will target opportunities for improved coordination across systems for individuals who are either in need of or at-risk for needing long-term support services; this population will be targeted due to the complex health needs and the cross-cutting nature of the services and payments needed to coordinate their care. Through this process, New Hampshire will leverage ongoing activities in the development of the new system and align the ongoing state and national quality initiatives with the new system.

New Hampshire has six months to submit its plan to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and will use its Health Care Innovation Plan to apply for an anticipated second round of awards

For more information on the grant please go to: http://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/State-Innovations <http://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/State-Innovations> . To learn more about other innovative models being tested by the CMS Innovation Center, please visit:  http://innovation.cms.gov/

Stay Work Play Provides $8,000 to for NH Student Loan Repayment

 
We love NH grads & NH companies do too! Do you? Learn more:http://www.stayworkplay.org/challengegrant/

Stay Work Play Provides $8,000 to for NH Student Loan Repayment

Manchester, NH – As a part of Stay Work Play’s Challenge Grant Program, the organization has leveraged $8,000 in grant funds from NH EPSCoR to help pay back New Hampshire student loan debt for employees at Dyn in Manchester, The Echo Group in Conway, and Paragon Digital in Keene.

“When Stay Work Play explained how Echo employees could benefit from the Challenge Grant program, I was thrilled. As a software vendor in NH, we are always trying to be creative in recruitment and retention and staff members who are originally from NH, or have attended college in the state, are excellent potential employees for Echo. The four employees that received the benefit in 2012 were surprised and very grateful for the help toward their college loans. It's a wonderful program that we are proud to participate in.”

New Hampshire is known for providing an excellent college education; however, college graduates in the Granite State are faced with the highest student loan debt (on average) in the country. The Stay Work Play Challenge Grant incentive program helps address this directly by showcasing New Hampshire employers who agree to contribute $8,000 to pay down college loans of newly hired graduates over the first four years of employment.

“We are excited to work with Stay Work Play,” said Zach Luse, Founder of Paragon Digital Marketing, “I believe this new program will be very beneficial to the community and the recent graduates who join our team. Attracting and retaining talented graduates to the area is vital to the continued growth of our business. When graduates choose to stay and work in the area it has countless benefits for the community.”

To remain competitive, businesses and organizations in New Hampshire need to be thinking about preserving our vibrant communities while simultaneously being proactive about recruiting more young professionals. The Stay Work Play Challenge Grant incentive program is open to any company that employs individuals working in New Hampshire in an entry-level position. To be eligible, a student must be a graduate of a New Hampshire college or university within the past 18 months. Incentive awards are phased incrementally over four years totaling $8,000.

For more information or to become a participating organization, visit http://www.stayworkplay.org/challengegrant

Partial support for this program is provided by a grant to NH EPSCoR from the National Science Foundation, award # EPS-1101245. No federal funds are used in the payment of student loans.

About Stay Work Play: Stay Work Play is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is “To work collaboratively across New Hampshire to support ongoing economic, workforce, and community development by promoting the state as a favorable place for young workers and recent college graduates to stay, work and play, when considering employment and lifestyle opportunities.” Additional information on the organization can be found on the website, www.stayworkplay.org

About NH EPSCoR: NH EPSCoR – Linking Education, Research and Economic Development – is supported an award from the National Science Foundation to build capacity in research and education in science, engineering, mathematics and technology necessary for a highly skilled state workforce.  Additional information can be found on the website, nhepscor.org.

NH DHHS Receives Grant to Help in Drug and Alcohol Prevention Efforts

Concord, NH – The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services

(DHHS) Bureau of Drug and Alcohol Services (BDAS) is announcing it is

receiving a multi-million dollar federal grant from the Substance Abuse and

Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Center for Substance

Abuse Prevention (CSAP). The Strategic Prevention Framework Partnerships

for Success II Grant (SPF-PFS II) is a three year grant totaling $3.6

million.



“We are extremely grateful for the opportunity this grant will provide to

our State,” said BDAS Director Joe Harding. “This will help us to continue

to build on the prevention efforts we have started here in our State.

Through a previous SAMSHA grant, we collaborated with our regional network

coalitions, the Governor’s Commission, the New Hampshire Charitable

Foundation and a number of other partners to establish a Statewide,

science-based, community level alcohol and other drug prevention system.

This grant will allow us to continue building our system and direct our

prevention efforts to those at greatest risk in areas of our state with the

greatest need.”



BDAS collaborated on this grant with the New Hampshire Charitable

Foundation and New Hampshire Center for Excellence. The SPF-PFS II goal is

to leverage the state’s existing prevention system structures and its

resources to impact substance use among high need populations in identified

communities to reduce: 1) underage drinking among persons aged 12 to 20;

and 2) prescription drug misuse and abuse among persons aged 12 to 25.



Although NH is often ranked as one of the healthiest states in the nation

there remain significant health risks related to substance abuse that

continue to challenge the State. Specifically, the 2008-2009 National

Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) reported NH’s rate of past month

alcohol use for those 12 and older to be the highest rate among states and

territories (63.9%) and the highest for 18 to 25 year olds (75.12%).

According to the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), NH’s

representative sample showed past month alcohol use rates among 9th through

12th graders to be 38.4%, on par with the U.S. rate of 38.7%, while the

rate of binge drinking for that same population was 23.8% compared to the

U.S. rate of 21.9%. Regarding prescription drug misuse and abuse,

according to the 2008-2009 NSDUH, NH’s rate of non-medical use of pain

relievers among 18 to 25 year olds was the second highest in the U.S. at a

rate of 16.7%. New Hampshire is also grappling with a meteoric rise in

drug-related deaths, with over 80% attributable to prescription drug abuse.

Specifically, between 2001 and 2011, drug-related deaths in NH rose well

over 300% from 60 deaths in 2001 to 200 deaths in 2011.