Rep. Joe Aresimowicz Celebrates 1,200 New Jobs Created Under State Program

House Majority Leader Joe Aresimowicz (D-Berlin & Southington) was joined by Senate Majority Leader Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven), State Labor Commissioner Sharon M. Palmer and state business owners today to celebrate the success of the state’s Subsidized Training and Employment Program (Step Up).

A new report by the state Department of Labor shows that since the Step Up program’s first hire in February of 2012, a total of 1,102 new employees have been hired at more than 375 companies throughout the state. Since November, the number of new employees has increased to 1,199 while nearly 400 employers are now taking part in the Step Up program.

“By providing well-paying jobs, the state’s Step Up program has provided hundreds of unemployed jobseekers with meaningful work that will ultimately help our economy to grow. Delmar Products and Value Added Solutions, both in Berlin, have hired a number of employees under Step Up,” said Representative Aresimowicz.

“Over half of the employers taking part in the Step Up program hired individuals to fill a new job created specifically as a result of the program incentives, and in November, nearly 250 new employees had already completed six months of work and were no longer subsidized."

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Step Up, focused on job creation, was part of the Jobs Bill passed by the legislature in October 2011. The state program, which provides wage subsidy and training grant incentives to small businesses, offers up to $12,000 in wage subsidies during the first six months of a new hire’s employment while the small manufacturing training grant provides up to $12,500 during the same six-month timeframe.

Rep. Aresimowicz, an army veteran noted that this past June, a new component added to Step Up now allows employers of any size to received wage subsidies for the first six months when an employer hires a post-9/11 military veteran.

As of Feb. 7 of this year, employers across Connecticut have hired 560 unemployed jobseekers using the wage subsidy program, and another 639 under the small manufacturer’s training grant.

Administered by the state Department of Labor and the Connecticut’s five Workforce Investment Boards, the three Step Up programs provide a total of $30 million ($10 million for each program) in employer incentives.

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