Language grants are a welcome step

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced a program this week that would provide grants to employers to provide English language instruction to employees. It's a welcome surprise. While this board has objected with much of the governor's hostile rhetoric and fearmongering on immigration, we're glad to see support for this and would encourage more of these types of programs going forward.

The Language Learners Job Training Program would provide $5 million for workplace programs aimed at improving English proficiency for employees so they can better understand duties, policies and procedures. Businesses with 25 employees or more are eligible for grants.

“As I travel the state, employers regularly highlight the importance of English Language Learner training. The Iowa Language Learners Job Training Program will provide employers with resources to offer or expand ELL training while at the same time supporting job safety, recruitment and retention efforts,” the governor said in a news release.

Iowa faces a chronic workforce shortage, and welcoming newcomers is a key strategy meeting the state’s workforce needs. Local economic development leaders have called for helping refugees arriving in the United States obtain the skills they need to take unfilled jobs.

“These economic contributions are increasingly important given our demographics — in 2020, a full 40 percent of Iowa’s population growth came from immigrants and refugees. This diverse workforce not only helps offset our aging population, but also helps reduce incentives for companies to move their operations elsewhere or overseas, wrote Doug Neumann, executive director of the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, and Drew Kamp, president and CEO of the Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce, in a recent Gazette guest column.

They noted Iowa has a long history of welcoming refugees, from people seeking refuge from war-torn Southeast Asia in the 1970s to Ukrainian refugees fleeing a Russian invasion.

From personal stories shared with members of this editorial board, many refugees have had to commute to meat packing facilities in Tama or Waterloo because those employers provided language supports and programming. This meant long and expensive commutes, isolation of family members as well as creating challenges building connections in the communities they call home.

We're hopeful this grant program can lead to additional opportunities for quality jobs within Linn County.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com