National Training Associates receives $200,000 grant

Date: 10/24/2014

AGAWAM – National Training Associates (NTA), with the support of the West of the River Chamber of Commerce (WRC) and Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce (MCC) was recently awarded $200,000 in grant funding to provide Western Massachusetts businesses with free access to Lean Training Programs.

Funding for this program comes from the Regional Training Capacity Pilot which is funded by the Workforce Training Fund grant through the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.  The grant program is administered by the Commonwealth Corporation.

This Regional Training Capacity program awards funds to training providers who are then tasked with providing classroom services to businesses within an identified region. 

Director of Grant Services Tamara Fricke said they chose Western Massachusetts because, “It’s a diverse area with a large number of businesses that may not have the financial resources to sponsor training for themselves.  In working with the Massachusetts Chamber and West of the River Chamber we found the community support that was critical to having a grant of this type funded.”

Debra Boronski, president of the Massachusetts Chamber and current candidate for state Senate for the First Hampden and Hampshire District added, “Helping businesses do more with the resources they have is fundamental to Lean methodology and a principle that we know will help Western Massachusetts businesses in times of austerity and prosperity.  We are excited to partner with NTA as they prepare to offer Western Mass businesses an exciting opportunity to refine their business and manufacturing skills.”

“We are exceedingly happy that the Workforce Training Fund Review Board provided this innovative way to offer training services to businesses and are looking forward to starting our training programs after the first of the new year,” Joshua Britton, director of Workforce Development for NTA, said.

“In addition to the support of the Massachusetts Chamber and the WRC, we would like to recognize our business partners Westside Finishing of Holyoke; Hayden Corporation of West Springfield; OMG of Agawam; and Springfield Spring of East Longmeadow for their support of our efforts to bring training to Western Massachusetts,” Fricke said. 

Britton adds, “NTA’s partnerships with the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, the Franklin Hampshire County Regional Employment Board and the Berkshire Workforce Investment Board were critical to the success of our application and we look forward to working with them to make sure businesses across the region have access to training.”   

For additional information about these programs, visit www.nationaltrainingassociates.com or contact their Massachusetts offices at 789-3444.