Apr. 29—The Train to Work Initiative in Delaware County is off to a good start three months after it was announced.

The county Economic Development and CDO Workforce have collaborated on the program, which will reimburse Delaware County businesses for hiring and training employees up to $5,000 for each full-time employee and $2,500 for each part-time employee, a release said. The county Board of Supervisors approved allocating $350,000 of its American Rescue Plan Act funds to the program at its Dec. 8, 2021 meeting.

The ARPA Committee approved the allocation in October. Committee Chair Wayne Marshfield said in November the initiative would allow people to apply for jobs they may not qualify for due to experience and be trained for that position. He also said it would benefit businesses as it would help them fill vacant positions. He said it would fund 100 employees.

The initiative heavily relies on businesses developing their own training programs to meet the needs of their business, the release said. Businesses must submit an application outlining the training that they will provide, prior to hiring for the position. All contracted positions must be expected to provide at least six months of continuous employment. Temporary positions are not covered in this program.

The initiative has created jobs throughout the county, Delaware County Department of Economic Development Director Glenn Nealis said. "We currently have 23 active contracts with 14 businesses. Each contract is per employee. The contracts cover periods of employment and take time to fully accrue."

Nealis said the program has created jobs in the manufacturing, production, retail, service, professional and construction fields.

There is no deadline for businesses to apply for the program, and the program will accept applications until it runs out of funds, Nealis said.

"We have committed just over $105,000 out of a budgeted $300,000," Nealis said. "Current commitments and admin related spending is $107,163. It is likely we also will be able to increase the budget by an additional $20,000 or so, so we have a significant amount of funding still available."

Interested businesses should email ecd@co.delaware.ny.us or call 607-832-5123.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221. Follow her @DS_VickyK on Twitter.