Hire Westchester residents and the county will pay half the training costs up to $20,000 per business. That's the idea behind County Executive Rob Astorino's new jobs initiative announced Monday at InspiriaMedia in White Plains.

"Hire Westchester gives employers an incentive to expand their business and draw from the talented workforce right here in the county," said County Executive Rob Astorino. "The businesses create jobs, we help pay for the training and it doesn't cost taxpayers a dime. That's a winning formula for economic growth."

Hire Westchester is a Westchester-Putnam Workforce Investment Board program made possible through $100,000 in support from the Westchester County Industrial Development Agency (IDA). The IDA is funded by the fees it collects from corporations that take advantage of low-cost financing.

"County Executive Astorino's business friendly approach and One-Stop's job-readiness programs are helping our company grow," said Ronnie Ram, president of White Plains-based InspiriaMedia, a digital media and promotion company. "We're hiring two more people as a direct result of Hire Westchester's training dollars."

Jobs eligible under the Hire Westchester program may be seasonal, part-time or full-time and must pay between $10 and $25 an hour.

The Westchester Putnam One-Stop Employment Center will help guide businesses through the steps of recruiting top talent for their available positions, developing a comprehensive training plan, and getting reimbursement for up to half their training costs. Eligible reimbursements include worker's wages for the training period as well as other costs (cash or in-kind) associated with the training such as equipment or room rental (up to $20,000 per business).

"As a developing small business, we're thankful for the investment that County Executive Rob Astorino has already made in small business training programs," said Aron Myers, president of My Favorite Student, an e-commerce mail-order gift-giving company based in Scarsdale. "We've grown dramatically, because of them and we're continuing to stay ahead of the competition with the training and recruitment support from Hire Westchester."

"Cable companies continuously update their technology, which requires our cable technicians to keep up through both customized and on-the-job-training," said Lisa Fasciani, vice president at Connect One, a Rye-based cable installation and repair company. "County Executive Rob Astorino's Hire Westchester is filling a serious need in the marketplace by helping to absorb some of the risk and the cost of this training."

"For small businesses to grow in our communities and create new jobs, they need great employees," said Jordie Kern, on behalf of Peekskill-based J.P. McHale Pest Management, Inc., " Hire Westchester will be very helpful to incentive business to create even more positions in the future."

Any business interested in saving on their recruitment and training costs and helping their business grow should contact Bob Fois, Westchester Putnam One-Stop Job Developer, at (914) 995-4976 or . For more information, go to WestchesterPutnamOneStop.com/hire.

Photo: Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino announces Hire Westchester, a new jobs initiative with (left to right): Ronnie Ram, InspiriaMedia Corp president; Donnovan Beckford, Workforce Investment Board director; Nick Simard, InspiriaMedia Corp vice president; Jim Coleman, Industrial Development Agency executive director; Allison Madison, Workforce Investment Board member; County Executive Robert P. Astorino; Dr. Marsha Gordon, Business Council of Westchester president and Workforce Investment Board member; Aron Myers, My Favorite Student president; and Greg Jones, My Favorite Student customer service representative.