When the Ohio TechCred program started in 2019. The Mitsubishi Electric Automotive America company located in Mason, Ohio had a budget of $350 per person per year in employee upskilling funds. That was the first year Jonathan Jones, Senior Manager, Corporate Training and Productivity Improvement, and his Mitsubishi team started taking advantage of the Ohio TechCred program. Since 2019, Mitsubishi has now utilized more than $500,000 of TechCred funding and across multiple departments in the company. They are one of the very best case studies in Ohio companies using TechCred to create an annual employee training plan.

In a recent MAX virtual TechCred workshop, we got to spend time with Jonathan to ask him directly about his experience with the TechCred program.

Why did you start using TechCred? [Dustin Miller, MAX Technical Training- 25:27] We had a significant organization with needs to develop our associates but with no budget to cover all of our needs especially when it came to the technology side. Luckily one of my group members is active in the local, state and federal grant programs and he came to us about TechCred in 2019. As soon as it was available to us we jumped on the opportunity. [Johnathan Jones: Senior Manager Mitsubishi- 26:32]

 

How did you Identify employee training needs? [Dustin Miller, MAX Technical Training- 26:49] We had our teams/departments participate in a skills need assessment. We’ve never done a needs assessment before so when we did the assessment, we found a high technical need even just for Microsoft Office which our whole business runs off of. We evaluated how much it would cost to implement training, and we needed to find other means to deliver that training to our company.  [Johnathan Jones: Senior Manager Mitsubishi- 27:08]

How TechCred makes you feel about Ohio? [Dustin Miller, MAX Technical Training- 28:42] That Ohio actually cares. This is a resource that is out there to help companies and workers. Along with TechCred, we are also active in other Ohio grant programs. All of them have changed our mindset that Ohio is actually out to help us. [Johnathan Jones: Senior Manager Mitsubishi- 29:08]

 

What was it like getting started with TechCred? [Dustin Miller, MAX Technical Training- 29:58] Definitely scary at first because back then there was no one talking us through the process. Once we got started, we realized it wasn’t as complicated as we first thought. I highly recommend allocating time to watch over any seminar of the process because it will be highly beneficial. [Johnathan Jones: Senior Manager Mitsubishi-30:13]

What are your current TechCred stats? [Dustin Miller, MAX Technical Training- 29:58] We have about 500 associates that work at out location in Mason, Ohio, and we just crossed the half a million dollar threshold for reimbursement. We are most likely closer to $600,000 since 2019. I believe in our first year it was around $10,000. We max out our requests each cycle and we have people fighting over it. [Johnathan Jones: Senior Manager Mitsubishi-31:37]

What’s Changed in the Company Culture? [Dustin Miller, MAX Technical Training- 33:28] Before we started TechCred people weren’t talking about training of any type. Workers might have thought that the company wasn’t putting effort in investing in training. Now that we offer this it can show them that we do care about giving them proper training. People can now go home and know they learned something in training that will help them in their job and career. [Johnathan Jones: Senior Manager Mitsubishi-33:42]

 

What are your final words of wisdom for anyone who’s never applied for TechCred? [Dustin Miller, MAX Technical Training- 35:58] Find someone that has a sense of pride in what you’re going to be able to offer. This person will be responsible for the process from beginning to end. Make sure that the communication is there, and that you have all the documentation to back it up. Also, have that point person create a friendship in accounting to make sure you know where all the reimbursement is going and where it should go. [Johnathan Jones: Senior Manager Mitsubishi-37:52]

Any Ohio company can apply for up to $180,000 per year in technical training reimbursement. Approved TechCred credentials are available in tech, healthcare, manufacture, IoT, and more. You can get reimbursed for any number of tech courses available at MAX including but not limited to Excel, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security and more. Join us for our next virtual TechCred Workshop: Preparing to Apply and check out the video interview of Jonathan Jones below.

Article Key Takeaways:

• There are 6 program periods per year, and you can apply for a maximum of $30,000 per program period for a total of $180,000.
• When you decide to start this process, you should appoint a point person who will centralize application and reimbursement submission, communication, and employee coordination.
• The process is easier than the outside perception leads you to believe. The first time will be the most cumbersome but MAX TechCred Advisors and virtual TechCred workshops can make the process even easier.
• You can invest in the upskilling of your team. Create a culture of upskilling and develop an annual training program that benefits every aspect of the future of your company.
• First-time applicants should register and attend a MAX virtual TechCred Workshop that is focused on sharing the entire application process in preparation to apply.