Manufacturer receives reimbursement for on-the-job training

As their team of professionals worked to file an application for the current Going PRO Talent Fund application period (FY22), Magna Mirrors in Newaygo recently received a portion of its award from last year’s grant round.

Michigan Works! West Central’s Executive Director Shelly Keene and Business Services Specialist for Newaygo County Chad Marr presented Magna Mirrors with a check for $69,000 in October, for last year’s Talent Fund award. The funds are reimbursement for training 46 new-hire employees, including 43 production operators and three manufacturing setup technicians, who all underwent 120 hours of training.

Magna also has 28 incumbent employees currently completing various training courses, including geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T), statistical process control (SPC), robot safety, blueprint reading and more. Once these trainings are successfully completed, Magna Mirrors will work with Marr at Michigan Works! West Central to file the closing documentation with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity for an additional reimbursement of nearly $15,000.

“Manga Mirrors in Newaygo is proud to be the recipient of a Going PRO Talent Fund award,” said Cynthia Romanowski, human resources manager for Magna Mirrors’ Newaygo division. “Because of these funds, we were able to provide additional training for our employees who we would not have otherwise been able to train. This training has led to new job opportunities for our employees within the Magna organization.”

Magna previously received more than $68,000 in fiscal year 2018, through the Going PRO Talent Fund for DOT certifications, U.S. Department of Labor maintenance apprenticeships and new-hire training.

Although the current Going PRO Talent Fund application period is closed, it is never too early to start thinking about your company’s training needs. Eligible businesses can apply for up to $1,500 per individual (existing or new-hire employees) for training on a new or expanded skill. That amount increases to up to $3,000 per individual for first-year USDOL registered apprentices.

For more information about the Going PRO Talent Fund, eligible training and how to apply, contact Michigan Works! West Central’s Business Services team today. For businesses in Mason and Oceana counties, contact Julie Sanders at (231) 349-6072 or jsanders@mwwc.org; for Lake and Osceola counties, contact Mark Buss at (231) 791-7065 or mbuss@mwwc.org; and for Mecosta and Newaygo counties, contact Chad Marr at (231) 660-0258 or cmarr@mwwc.org. 

Michigan Works! West Central Executive Director Shelly Keene, far left, poses with staff from Magna Mirrors' Newaygo Division. Magna Mirrors received a portion of it's nearly $85,000 Going PRO Talent Fund award amount for FY21. Also pictured is Chad Marr (second from right), Michigan Works! West Central business services specialist for Newaygo COunty, and Cindy Romanowski (second from left), HR manager for Magna Mirrors in Newaygo and Michigan Works! West Central Workforce Development Board member.