Potato Processor Idahoan Foods receives training Funds for Expansion

Potato processor Idahoan Foods will receive up to $240,000 from the Idaho Department of Labor Workforce Development Training Fund to train 60 new workers at its Idaho Falls plant.

The Idaho Department of Labor’s commitment averaging $4,000 per new employee will enable the maker of premium dehydrated mashed, au gratin, scalloped and hash brown potatoes to expand its payroll to 109. The new jobs pay an average of $14.84 an hour with a starting wage of $12.60.

Idaho’s Workforce Development Training Fund, financed by employers through a 3 percent setaside on unemployment insurance taxes, reimburses companies for the costs of training employees for new jobs if the jobs pay at least $12 an hour and include employer-provided health care. Reimbursements can also be made for training workers who face layoff from their current jobs if their skills are not upgraded.

Companies must produce a product or service that is marketed outside their region of operation or be in the health care sector to be eligible.

Since its inception in 1996, the fund has reimbursed 200 companies over $38 million for training almost 20,000 workers.

Source: Idaho department of Labor