Gov. Little touts rollout of LAUNCH project ahead of upcoming Legislative session, says education will remain top priority
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IDAHO FALLS – Education has been and will continue to be Gov. Brad Little’s top priority.
That’s what he said during a news conference Thursday morning ahead of the upcoming Legislative session that kicks off Jan. 8.
The governor began his remarks talking about record growth taking place throughout the Gem State and the need to balance future growth needs. Idaho has seen a 1% increase in growth every year since 2016, according to a recent report. The state added nearly 26,000 new residents from July 2022 to July 2023, bringing its current population to about 1,965,000 people.
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One reason for the growth, he said, has a lot to do with public safety in the state. Many of the people who have moved here feel Idaho is a much safer place to live and work than other places, Little said.
Facilitating growth remains a constant problem, and that’s another reason why education is important to him.
The bulk of his remarks focused on the rollout of the Idaho LAUNCH Project, which is designed to match high school seniors with the skills and training opportunities employers are looking for.
Idaho’s college “go-on rate” has struggled in recent years, but skilled technical and trade workers are in-demand.
The Idaho LAUNCH Project addresses this issue and offers grants that cover 80%, or up to $8,000, of the cost for education or training that leads to an in-demand career, according to a news release from the Governor’s Office. Seventy-six schools across the state are participating, including local schools like College of Eastern Idaho, Eagle Gate College, Paul Mitchell, Rexburg College of Massage Therapy and others. See the entire list here.
Wendi Secrist, executive director of the Idaho Workforce Development Council, provided some data about the number of applications they’ve received and what fields students are most interested in.
As of Dec. 28, a total of 12,588 applications have been submitted. High school seniors had the most applications with the majority coming from female students — but not by much. There were 6,006 female applications compared to 5,404 male applications. Forty percent of completed applications came from students living on the western side of the state.
With 935 applications, healthcare technicians are the most popular program for applicants. This includes careers such as dental assistants, surgical technicians and physical therapy assistants. Trailing close behind is nursing with 931 applications. Engineering rounds out the top three with 835 applications.
Click here for the Workforce Development Council’s entire report.
Since the implementation of LAUNCH, Little and other state officials have traveled around the state multiple times to raise awareness. Though it was low in the beginning, Little said that’s not the case anymore and there’s a lot of interest.
“The interest in LAUNCH truly blew us away. Clearly, Idahoans support opportunities for our young people to enter professions that drive our economy,” Little says in a news release. “These are lucrative, rewarding jobs that make our world go ‘round. We don’t want to import workers from other places. We want Idaho kids to stay in Idaho.”
Little made stops in Coeur d’Alene and Sugar City Thursday to talk about the program, parts of the state where there have been a large number of people apply for grants.
Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke shared his experience visiting with 78 students at Emerson High School in Idaho Falls recently. Once students became aware of how many opportunities were available, Bedke says the majority of them lit up and got excited about it.
“For the first time … they saw a glimpse of how they could be more successful,” Bedke explained. “Life had kicked these kids around a little bit (and this was eye-opening for them).”
Though the program won’t be a good fit for every student, Bedke says it will benefit a large “chunk of them” and it will “make Idaho a better place by implementing this.”
Later in the news conference, Little said it’s hard to say at this point whether he will ask for more funding for this initiative.
He’s pleased with the efforts of the Workforce Development Council in implementing LAUNCH and he’s encouraged by the support from students and business leaders.
“There is a lot of interest in how this is taking place,” he said. “This is demand driven … and that is by far (the thing I am happiest about from the last session). But now, we’ve got to get it implemented right.”