Stephanie Montanez
VP of Human Resources
Vagaro
Episode 113
Unlock hidden funds: Transform your workforce with state and federal training grants.
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleJuly 10, 2025 · 7:53
Thesis
“Investing in employee training and development, often by strategically leveraging state and federal funding, is crucial for building career paths, enhancing retention, and shaping a skilled workforce without preconceived notions.”
Show notes
Securing Training Grants and Upskilling Employees with StephanieIn this episode of the Built by People Podcast, the host welcomes Stephanie, an experienced HR leader, to discuss her career journey and expertise in securing training grants. Stephanie shares how she initially entered the HR field and highlights her success at Qualex, where she managed job training grants. She also explains California's ETP training grants, which helped her secure $1.7 million for her company, and discusses her challenges and strategies in converting retail and fast-food workers into medical billing professionals. Additionally, Stephanie provides advice for HR leaders in other states on securing training grants and emphasizes the importance of creating a strong culture of training and development for employees.00:00 Introduction to the Built by People Podcast00:38 Meet Stephanie: A Journey in HR01:33 Understanding California's ETP Training Grants03:00 Transforming Workers into Medical Billing Professionals04:25 Securing and Writing Training Grants06:00 Advice for HR Leaders on Training Grants07:17 Final Thoughts and Parting Advice
What you'll take away
- 1Employers can access state and federal training tax funds (like California's ETP and federal WIOA) to subsidize employee training and upskilling programs.
- 2Formalized classroom training can successfully transform workers with limited prior skills (e.g., retail/fast food) into professionals in new fields.
- 3Thorough documentation and accurate billing are critical to comply with grant requirements and avoid forfeiture of funds or future bans.
- 4Investing in employee training and development not only builds valuable career paths but also significantly improves employee retention.
- 5Other states (Texas, New York, Massachusetts, Georgia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida) also offer training grants, and federal programs exist for retraining laid-off workers.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Many employers are unaware of and don't tap into the training tax funds they already pay, missing significant opportunities for subsidized workforce development.
- •Bringing in workers with limited skills allows for training them 'the way we wanted it done' without preconceived ideas, which can be an advantage in creating a specialized workforce.
In Stephanie's words
“Every single employer in the state of California can apply to utilize these training funds for training purposes to train and upskill their staff.”
This highlights a widely available but often underutilized resource for workforce development.
“But the benefit and beauty of that is we were able to teach them the way we wanted it done without any preconceived ideas of how medical billing should be done.”
This demonstrates a unique advantage of upskilling from scratch: building a workforce perfectly aligned with organizational needs.
“If you don't have a proper process or you don't bill accurately, the state will take the money back from you. And then you can get banned from any future types of training grants.”
This emphasizes the critical importance of meticulous administrative adherence to grant rules.
“If you're developing and training your staff, they will likely want to stay with you. You're going to build a career path for them.”
This concisely articulates the direct link between investment in development and improved employee loyalty and career progression.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Employees' number one concern is covering monthly expenses (addressed by Previ, sponsor).
- •Employers are often unaware of how to access and utilize state-mandated training tax funds.
- •Challenges in converting workers with limited prior experience into specialized professionals for new roles.
- •Navigating the complex application processes, formalized training plan requirements, and industry-specific funding criteria for government grants.
- •Risk of losing grant funding and being banned from future programs due to improper documentation and inaccurate billing.
- •Retraining individuals who have experienced mass layoffs and require new skills to re-enter the workforce.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
And as a starting question, I always love to ask about your career journey
MRKT: My Career Journey
California's ETP training grants helped you secure $1.7 million
California's ETP Training Grants
Vituity converted retail and fast food workers into medical billing professionals
Training retail and fast food workers into medical billing professionals
Stephanie writes and secures California training grants
Training Grads in California
California is not the only state that provides training grants to employers
California's Training Grants
Stephanie recommends investing in training and development for your employees
Training and Development: Stephanie's Final Advice
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
Expand transcript (0 words)
Transcript is not available yet.