New Project Helps Idaho Recruit Jobs Coldwater Creek First To Use Training Program

Fast-growing catalog sales firm Coldwater Creek will be the first to take advantage of a new state job training program displayed Wednesday at the North Idaho College Workforce Training Center.

Expanding government’s role isn’t a hallmark of Gov. Phil Batt’s administration, but this project, the Workforce Development Training Fund, is done Battstyle.

It will require no new taxes, instead taking about $4 million of unemployment premiums to support retraining efforts across the state, said Lt. Gov. Butch Otter.

Coldwater Creek will use $34,000 of the money to train 150 new employees it will hire next year. They will join the 100 workers the company already has hired for its Coeur d’Alene call center, open since July.

“A lot of the applicants we’re seeing want computer training,” said Bette Anderson, director of human resources for Coldwater Creek.

She saw 400 job applicants just last month, coming mostly from the flagging timber industry and from food service and retailing jobs. “They used to come just from one single industry group, but now the industry mix in Sandpoint has really changed and we’re seeing them from everywhere.”

The new program is crucial for keeping Idaho’s economic recruiting efforts competitive, said Jim Hawkins, former Idaho Department of Commerce director. He conceived the idea of the job program about two years ago, and found Batt “very enthusiastic” about it.

Other states competing with Idaho have substantially larger and better-funded job training programs, Hawkins said. One of the first questions businesses ask when looking to relocate is about job training opportunities.

An example is the recruiting of Harpers Inc., the Post Falls furniture manufacturer. Special money approved by the Idaho Legislature and $250,000 from Washington state were the key to luring the company and its 480 jobs to Kootenai County.

The money covers up to $2,000 of training expenses for each new job created. Companies that export goods or services - even to Washington or Oregon - will get preference for the job training cash over those that sell mostly in state.

The successful training center here provides classes for a variety of computer and other technical skills. The concern on the part of economic development officials remains that there aren’t nearly enough jobs locally for those people after they’re trained.

“They have to go elsewhere to get work, even though we can train them here,” said Tim Herzog, who works on economic development in Post Falls.

Coldwater Creek has been expanding each year, becoming a major seasonal employer in Sandpoint. Anderson said the company, which sells a variety of apparel through catalogs, expanded into Coeur d’Alene to tap the labor market. , DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: TRAINING FUND Businesses creating new jobs, primarily through exporting a product, get a preference for the money. New jobs must be full time and pay more than $6 an hour. Employer must have private matching funds to get the money. $2,000 is the maximum money for each trained employee, although most amounts are less. The state money comes from unemployment premiums, meaning no new taxes, and no reduction in unemployment benefits. The money can be used for everything but trainees’ salaries and major equipment for the jobs.