Step-Up Helping Veterans, Unemployed Find Jobs

Hartford- The Subsidized Training and Employment Program (Step Up), initiated in 2011 and expanded in 2012 to include a veterans’ employment component, has helped 377 employers hire more than 1,100 people in its first year supporters said during a press conference on Wednesday to report the results of the program thus far.

The program has two components, a wage subsidy program that provides up to $20 an hour and can be reimbursed up to $12,000 over a 180 day period. The small manufacturer training grant program gives grants up to $12,500 for new hires for six months.

State Representative Dave Yaccarino (R- North Haven), the leading House Republican legislator on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and State Senator Len Fasano joined legislators from both parties, Department of Labor Commissioner Sharon Palmer and employers and employees that have benefitted from StepUp at the press conference. Afterward, Yaccarino said the program is a good example of what can happen when both parties work together toward a common goal.

“This program is getting people off of the unemployment rolls and helping our small businesses expand. More than half of the jobs are to fill positions specifically created because of the program. Our veterans are coming home from being overseas and finding good paying jobs- this has been an excellent investment,” Yaccarino said.

Nearly 125 different towns and cities in Connecticut have added jobs as a result of the program and nearly 250 new employees have completed six months of work and are no longer subsidized.

“With our unemployment rate still far too high and various other programs out there with an eye-popping dollar-to-job ratio, this program is proving we can add good jobs without giving up the farm,” added Yaccarino.

“This is much more than a press conference, it’s a celebration of the success of the program,” said  Palmer. “We want to continue this program; we want to make it stronger.”

Department of Labor Commissioner Sharon Palmer speaks to the success of the StepUp program

There are a number of criteria an employee must meet to be eligible for the program including have an adjusted family income equal to or less than 250% of the federal poverty level while veterans qualify if they were called to active duty in Iraq or Afghanistan and were honorably discharged.

Businesses must employ 100 or fewer full-time employees and be in good standing with the payment of state and local taxes.

For more information on the program visit the state Department of Labor’s Office of Workforce Competitiveness website at www.ctdol.state.ct.us/owc