Since launching in 1996, Precision Engineering has been doing a tidy business in Evergreen crafting parts used by Applied Materials, and before that, Semitool, among other firms.
“We’re basically a job shop that manufactures mechanical components,” Andy Upton, Precision’s quality manager and shop foreman, said. “Parts we build go together to build a larger component.”
Employing nine people at present, Precision Engineering is a good example of the type of “small business” politicians tend to refer to when arguing over tax policy and economic measures. Because it operates in such a specialized field, the company has highly specific needs.
“In this type of industry, we have a few complex pieces of equipment,” Upton said. Precision Engineering recently acquired a coordinate-measuring machine (CMM), which can precisely measure a part to ensure it matches the original design. But training on such a tool can be tough.
“Without that specific training, it’s such a complex piece of equipment, that we just didn’t have time to learn it ourselves,” Upton said.
That is, until Bill Nicholson, a field engineer with the Montana Manufacturing Center’s Kalispell extension office, informed the leadership at Precision they would likely qualify for the Incumbent Worker Training Program. Administered by the state Department of Labor, the program provides matching grants of $4 for every dollar put up by a business to pay for training that increases skills, productivity and wages – at up to $2,000 per full-time employee.
“It’s got to be something that’s going to advance a new skill, that’s going to make them more efficient, more competitive,” Chris Parson, who administers the program as director of the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce’s small business development center, said.
For Precision Engineering, incumbent worker grants helped pay for half the workforce to train on the CMM in June, and on more advanced uses of the machine in August. It also helped pay for training to pass an auditing certification that lets Precision manufacture at a higher standard. According to Upton, this added capability could lead to bigger jobs and hopefully open the door to continued growth for the company.
“I can guarantee you that we will see some parts that will require the use of a CMM,” Upton said. “Without that CMM, and without that CMM training, that door wouldn’t even be there.”
And he believes Precision will take advantage of incumbent worker training grants in the future.
“We would use it again and I know we’re going to need more training,” Upton added.
In a brutal economy, investing in new equipment or employees can be a bigger gamble for a company than under normal circumstances. But many resources – from tax breaks to training grants to financing – exist to help small businesses, if they know where to look, according to Parson and Michael Jackson, a workforce consultant at the Flathead Job Service.
Both men spend much of their days trying to assist small businesses in the Flathead, and informing them on the numerous ways in which help is available. Since April, they have helped distribute more than $67,000 in grant money to train 71 employees at 23 different businesses – mainly in the manufacturing, service and retail industries. One key method for how they begin a relationship is through the “BEAR,” or Business Expansion and Retention, interviews with local firms.
“It’s a way for us to meet the business owners, learn about their business and be able to see what services they are looking for,” Parson said. “Do they need a business plan? Do they need financing? What is it that they’re looking for and what can we help them find?”
“It’s a matter of connecting the business to the resources,” Parson added. “BEAR becomes so vital to try to get that information out on an one-to-one basis.”
The interviews, which Jackson said last about an hour, consist of a series of basic questions, ranging from the education level of employees to annual sales to the major challenges facing the business.
Jackson recently interviewed a man who runs his own jelly business, selling preserves at trade shows. Jackson made him aware of a trade show assistance program that will pay some of the costs of his booth rental and brochure costs. On another interview, Jackson heard from a woman who had laid off some workers, and then later rehired them, unaware of an IRS program, meant to encourage hiring, that could have saved her substantially in taxes.
“She potentially left $3,000-$5,000 on the table by not taking advantage of some of these programs,” Jackson said.
“You can get the tax savings, you can get on-the-job training,” he added. “This whole thing is all about jobs and making businesses in the Flathead Valley successful.”
Among the other help on offer is assistance writing employee handbooks and establishing work force safety programs: steps that can help a business lower its worker compensation insurance rates.
The goal is to make an employer who thought they could only afford to hire a part-time employee realize they can afford a full-time worker, or help a certain business gain the specialized certifications that allow it to take on more profitable jobs. Jackson acknowledges there’s no magic formula to help boost a down economy, but he remains optimistic that the right attitude and a series of small steps forward for the local business community could help the Flathead rebound.
“I think it’s a heck of a start: to help these businesses that just need a little more push, that just need a little more something to hire someone,” Jackson said. “Over time, I think that’ll make a difference.”
For more information on the programs available, contact Parson at 758-2802 or Jackson at 758-6252.