Northwestern Michigan College’s Board of Trustees approved training agreements with six local companies, which will create 63 new jobs by 2021. That will bring the total number of jobs the college says it has helped created in northwest Michigan to 498 since NMC inked its first such agreement with Electro Optics Technology in 2010.

The six companies with which the agreements were made are:
 - Adaptive Counseling and Case Management LLC, Traverse City (new agreement)
 - Electro-Optics Technology, Inc. Traverse City (extension)
 - Materne North America Corp., Grawn (extension)
 - Plascon Inc., Traverse City (extension)
 - Norcross Company, dba Preston Feather Building Centers, Petoskey (extension)
 - Skilled Manufacturing Inc., Traverse City (extension)

The New Jobs Training Program, which was established by the Michigan Legislature in 2008, provides funding for organizations to pay for staff development in new positions paying above $12.95 per hour. Jobs starting after Jan. 1, 2017 will be benchmarked to the new minimum wage threshold of $15.58 per hour. The companies pay for the training, which NMC provides, and are reimbursed over time as payroll tax dollars are diverted. NMC’s Training Services division offers customized training opportunities including leadership and team building, Lean, advanced manufacturing and more.

In addition to the agreements above, the following companies also have New Job Training Agreements in place.
 - Armor Express, Central Lake
 - Century Extrusion and Century Inc., Traverse City
 - Hagerty Insurance, Traverse City
 - Hayes Manufacturing Inc., Fife Lake
 - Precision Edge Surgical Products LLC, Boyne City
 - Shoreline Fruit LLC, Traverse City
 - TentCraft Inc., Traverse City