KALISPELL -- Job Service Kalispelland Flathead Valley Community Collegeare offering free job training classes for those wanting to brush up on their skills to make them more desirable to employers.
Laura Gardner with Job Service Kalispell said that there's also a pot of money specifically for those who lost their jobs due to coronavirus.
"It's funding that we get from the federal government each year to help re-train and up skill workers and help employers with defraying some cost of re-training new or even current employees," said Gardner.
She explained that those classes are free and open to people who are on SNAP, TANF and medicaid expansion low-income adults.
"We can help pay for training costs if they need to go back to school," she said. "Or, if they have some online training or just a class that could help them to get the skills that would help them to be employed for an employer to hire them."
Will Richards with Flathead Valley Community College works directly with some of these students and knows what some other of those classes are. He explained that the career with the fastest training turn around time is driving a truck.
"We have a CDL program that lasts about eight weeks," said Richards. "They have class the first three days and then the rest of the time they're driving for two-and-a-half hours a day, three days a week, until they're ready to get their license. So, it's something they can still do while they're working and have a new career pretty quickly."
Richards said that FVCC offers other classes like electronic technology and gun smithing. If people are interested, he suggests that they apply soon as classes begin to fill up in August.
He said that classes are a little different this year because of the virus.
"Last year if you were in an electrical class you would have had 24 in your class," he said. "This year, you're going to have a maximum of 14. So, we had to have two sections of the class. So, you're going to have smaller classes."
Gardner said that Job Service Kalispell currently is not offering in-person meetings but can help via email or over the phone at (406) 758-6200.
