Approximately 3,000 new jobs will be created over the next three years due to new European funding, the Welsh Government has announced.
The Deputy Minister for Skills, and Caerphilly AM, Jeff Cuthbert has said that £30m will be made available to extend the Skills Growth Wales scheme.
Seventeen millions pounds of the money has come from the European Social Fund with the rest from the Welsh Government. Skills Growth Wales will be re-launched with immediate effect.
The existing scheme, which supported 90 companies to train over 8,000 employees, closed to new applications at the end of March 2011, when all available funding had been committed.
The extended programme will provide training support until 31 March 2015 to help a further 200 companies achieve their growth plans, supporting the creation of up to 3,000 extra jobs in Wales.
Mr Cuthbert made the announcement during a recent visit to TES Aviation Group, in Bridgend, who are benefiting from £228,935 under the first Skills Growth Wales programme.
“Skills Growth Wales is highly regarded by the private sector for its success in encouraging growth and creating new employment opportunities,” said Mr Cuthbert.
He said: “Since the scheme was closed to new applications in March, I have received calls from businesses and their representative bodies for the re-introduction of Skills Growth Wales to support plans for growth in the private sector. So I am delighted that with the support of European funding we are now able to extend this successful scheme for another three years.
“Given the challenges of unemployment that we currently face, job creation was a prime concern when refining the current scheme. Therefore a targeted approach has been developed to identify those key businesses in priority sectors, which have a credible plan for growth that will lead to the creation of employment opportunities.”
Gareth Jenkins, Chair of Engineering Employers Federation Wales, said: “Skills Growth Wales, and before it ProAct, has supported Welsh companies with growth at the very time they needed it most, a great example of private and public partnership working well.
“It has enabled businesses to absorb new technology, enter new markets with our skills and broaden the access of our people to high quality training.”
Labour’s Member of European Parliament Derek Vaughn also welcomed the new funding.
He said: “At a time of such economic difficulty and a lack of emphasis from the Coalition government on growth and job creation, EU funding will allow Welsh companies to develop and expand at the very time that they need it most.”