Idaho welcomes high-wage jobs

Idaho is becoming choosier about the companies it recruits.

According to a new state policy, Idaho’s only cash incentive to lure new businesses to the state will be reserved for firms that pay least $12 per hour, and provide health insurance to their workers.

Every year, the state doles out about $3 million from its Workforce Development Training Fund. Private companies can receive up to $3,000 from the fund for each new worker they hire and train.

The fund, created in 1996, is widely tapped for business recruitment. Buck Knives, one of the more recent recipients, will receive up to $810,000 to offset the cost of training 270 new workers at its Post Falls manufacturing plant. During the last decade, the fund has channeled $6 million to North Idaho firms.

But the ante just went up for participating companies. Past eligibility for workforce training dollars was based on a minimum wage of $6 per hour wage.

“Six dollars an hour seems so low,” said Leandra Burns, administrator of the Idaho Commerce & Labor Department’s employment and training division. “I have to be honest; we have not supported projects at that level for many, many years.”

In the last five years, however, call center and manufacturing jobs paying in the $7 to $10 range did make the cut. With high demand for the limited funds, Burns said it only makes sense to ration the training dollars to companies creating higher-paid jobs.

The $12 per hour threshold was adopted last month by Idaho’s Workforce Development Council, which oversees the fund. The figure was based on average wages in Idaho, which range from $12 to $15 per hour in different regions of the state.

Providing health insurance for workers also became a stipulation for getting funds. Past policy said the jobs had to provide benefits, but the policy didn’t spell out what kind of benefits, Burns said.

“Benefits can mean a lot of different things to businesses,” she noted.

Commerce & Labor Director Roger Madsen still has discretion to give out funds to companies that create jobs paying less than $12 per hour, or about $25,000 per year, if the jobs will create significant economic benefits. Burns said the exemption, if used, would most likely apply to rural areas of the state, where wages tend to be lower.

Dave Whaley, president of Idaho State AFL-CIO, called the $12 per hour requirement “the right direction to head.”

The new limit still falls below Idaho’s “living wage,” according the 2005 Northwest Job Gap Study. The study determined that two adults, working full time, would each have to earn $13.24 per hour to cover the basic needs for a family of four.

“As everyone knows, costs continue to go up,” Whaley said.

Over the last several years, Idaho has moved toward tying business incentives to pay levels, Burns said.

Two years ago, the state created a $1,000 income tax credit for employers creating new jobs that paid $15.50 per hour plus health insurance. Last winter, the Idaho Legislature passed another package of tax credits for companies that create at least 10 jobs paying $19 per hour or more.

Locally, Jobs Plus also screens companies by wage levels and benefits. Last year, the nonprofit job recruitment agency turned down requests for assistance from five companies that wanted help moving to Kootenai County, but weren’t considered a good fit.