North Shore Community College (NSCC) hopes its leadership skills training can be a springboard propelling small businesses out of the pandemic and into 2021 profitability.
The college’s Corporate Training Solutions (CTS) department received a $98,000 state grant to help pay for supervisory and leadership training through NSCC’s Essential Skills for Supervisors Program.
The free, 10-module, 30-hour training instructs participants on effective supervisory skills in areas such as time management, delegation, effective communications, employee performance management, and labor laws.
NSCC, in a statement, said any company with fewer than 100 employees that pays into the unemployment fund, and is in good financial standing with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, will be able to enroll employees through the program, based on availability.
Businesses with more than 100 employees can apply for an Express Grant, and if approved, will be reimbursed 50 percent of the cost.
The program will run from February-June 2021 and all programs will be delivered remotely. https://tinyurl.com/ycura7t5
“The college is so pleased to have been awarded this grant to be able to provide our area businesses and their employees the opportunity to increase their productivity by improving their skills,” said Dr. Dianne Palter Gill, Dean of NSCC’s Corporate and Professional Education Division.
NSCC is ramping up leadership training at the same time communities are working to help small businesses forced to close or reduce staff due to COVID-19 social distancing protocols aimed at slowing the pandemic’s spread.
Just three months into the pandemic, Lynn Economic Development & Industrial had awarded almost $600,000 in help to 81 businesses. The Peabody Community Development Authority by May had approved more than $350,000 in grants to 110 small businesses.
The Salem Loan Fund is offering loans to Salem’s existing and start-up businesses that cannot currently access financing from a traditional bank or credit union lender. Loans range from between $5,000 to $100,000 with a 1 percent closing fee, feature a fixed interest rate, and have a term of up to five years.
“The Salem business community is resilient and has been navigating the economic upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This program is another way the city, its partners, and local and regional financial institutions can support Salem businesses during the pandemic and beyond,” said Mayor Kimberley Driscoll.
The supervisory/leadership grant to NSCC is funded by the Small Business Direct Access Program from the Workforce Training Fund, a program of the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development and administered by Commonwealth Corporation, a quasi-public state agency that fosters partnerships among industry, education, and workforce organizations.
NSCC has offered the leadership program for more than four years and has served 88 unique companies with more than 500 employees participating.
“This free program has proven to provide new opportunities for our region’s workforce,” said Palter Gill.
For more information, please contact Elaine Champagne at [email protected].