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
Most HR leaders know they should be investing more in training. Stephanie Montanez found a way to do it with money that was already sitting there, unclaimed — $1.7 million in California Employment Training Panel (ETP) funds. The catch: most employers pay into these state training tax funds and never apply to use them.
At Vituity, Stephanie took a program that many HR leaders overlook and turned it into one of the more compelling workforce transformation stories you'll hear. She converted retail and fast-food workers — people with no prior healthcare experience — into trained medical billing professionals. The insight behind that approach: hiring people without preconceived ideas about how medical billing should be done let her train them exactly the way the organization needed. No bad habits. No unlearning required.
The compliance side of grant management is where most programs fail, and Stephanie is direct about the consequences: improper documentation or inaccurate billing means the state takes the money back and bans you from future programs. She walks through the process for getting it right — and for HR leaders outside California, she maps out equivalent programs in Texas, New York, Massachusetts, Georgia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, and Florida, plus federal WIOA funding for organizations retraining laid-off workers.
- What California's ETP training grants are — and why most employers never apply to access the funds they already pay into
- How Stephanie secured $1.7 million and converted retail workers into medical billing professionals
- Why hiring workers with no prior experience in your field can be a workforce development advantage
- The documentation and billing requirements that determine whether you keep your grant funding
- What equivalent training grant programs exist in other states — and where to start looking
This episode is brought to you by Previ — an employer network that saves employees thousands on the necessities they already pay for, at no cost to the company.
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
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