First Upskill/Reskill Fund Contract to Aid Business Owner in Obtaining CDL

August 30, 2022

The first contract under our new Upskill/Reskill Fund was successfully completed and will help a micro business in Pierce County streamline its processes.

“This program is set up to assist micro, small, or medium-sized businesses in providing training within their company – whether it is to prevent layoffs, gain new skills or refocus the direction of the company,” said Workplace Training Manager Annikka Trabucco.

Olympus Services, LLC is a minority-owned business that specializes in custom fencing, decking, and concrete. Owners Stanton and Gabe Moaalii serve the whole Puget Sound area but call Tacoma home. They love spending time working outdoors and know the natural beauty that surrounds us is the pride of the Pacific Northwest. They have been in business since 2014 and have five full-time employees.

Olympus has worked with WorkForce Central on and off over the years through different programs for minority-owned small businesses when they learned about the new Upskill/Reskill Fund from Business Solutions Manager Sam Bradshaw.

“As a small business, we have challenges accessing resources and opportunities that bigger companies have,” said Gabe Moaalii. “Any support is helpful, especially as we continue to recover from the pandemic. This grant seemed very accessible to us, and Sam and others were very helpful in making the process smooth. We knew this grant would support training we have wanted to complete for a long time.”

Utilizing the Upskill/Reskill Fund, Stanton will be obtaining his CDL and then will be purchasing a truck and trailer to use to deliver supplies to company worksites.

“This will allow them not to be dependent on other contractors’ delivery schedules, be more exact with their employees’ schedules, and ultimately free up business capital to hire more employees. A perfect example of why we are offering this program,” Trabucco said.

With the training this grant will provide, Olympus can add a needed competency to their workforce that, in the past, they would have had to outsource or find a way to work around, Gabe said.

“We also have a company value of continued growth and investment in our team,” she added. “This helped accomplish all these goals. We are grateful for this opportunity and will continue working with Workforce Central to ensure their grants and programs continue to support and benefit small family-run businesses like ours.”

To learn more about the Upskill/Reskill Fund, contact our Business Solutions Team at BusinessSolutions@workforce-central.org, and to learn more about Olympus Services, go to www.olympusserviceswa.com