Hiring qualified people is a challenge facing virtually every company in Utah. Being able to afford to train them can be especially difficult, particularly for a recently launched startup, given today’s prevailing economic conditions.
Nate Johns, chief financial officer for Arches Health Plan — a nonprofit, member-run health insurance provider located in Salt Lake City — has learned that lesson firsthand. For years, he was his own boss as an entrepreneur operating a payroll company and had also been an accounting executive in his previous career.
When the chance came to move into the expanding health care industry last November, he felt it was too good to pass up.
Johns was one of the first people in his company to participate in the Utah Department of Workforce Services’ Small Business Bridge Program when he received training on new federal health care accounting regulations. He said the training helped him to better understand the rules pertaining to his position as CFO of a health insurance company under the Affordable Care Act.
The program is funded by the Unemployment Insurance Special Administrative Fund. During 2012, applications from 133 small businesses were approved, which are scheduled to create 659 new jobs, Hart said. This year, 51 applications have been approved, creating 250 jobs. The 2013 program year will continue until Feb. 28, 2014, or until all funding has been obligated. Deseret News
