RATHDRUM - A federal grant provided free heavy equipment training to 15 Native Americans throughout the state at the Kootenai Technical Education Campus (KTEC) in Rathdrum.

The $120,000 grant was provided by the Federal Highway Administration, and supported a four-week program. Those students will graduate on Tuesday at KTEC.

"If we can get more grant funding in the future, we would like to expand the program to disabled veterans, single mothers and refugees (legal aliens)," said Russ Rivera, Idaho Transportation Department contract compliance officer.

"KTEC was more than happy to build a program for us. Sixty to 65 percent of our trainees have already been recruited or offered a job upon completion of the training."

Rivera said demand for skilled heavy equipment operators is increasing due to the improved economy. Meanwhile, the pool of operators is shrinking as the Baby Boomer retirement wave sweeps workers and decades of knowledge from the workforce.

To combat the skills drain, ITD's Office of Civil Rights secured the grant for on-the-job training support services.

"ITD created this program because we noticed a trend of contractors needing skilled employees, but local training opportunities were few and far between," Rivera said. "Rather than send trainees out of state, we partnered with a local technical school and the AGC (Associated General Contractors) to create a program that could offer nationally-recognized training and certification, while providing training closer to home."

Students have learned basic operation and maintenance of heavy highway construction equipment. Participants are also earning CPR, first aid, OSHA 10, flagger and forklift certifications.

The partnership, which was a pilot project this year, is intended to "provide contractors with skilled employees and provide free technical training for underserved or underrepresented populations."

Five other states have expressed interest in building similar programs, Rivera said.

"Coming from areas where unemployment is often as high as 50 percent, this training is a life-changing opportunity for participants," Rivera said.