NextStep, a health care education and job placement company helping solve the caregiver crisis by retraining displaced workers to begin careers in the fast-growing health care sector, today announced a $2.5 million investment from new funders ZOMA Capital and ETF@JFFlabs, along with existing investors Springrock Ventures and JAZZ Venture Partners. This new funding will help propel the company’s growth in Colorado, where NextStep already trains and places new certified nursing assistants (CNAs) at over 70 facilities of employer partners, and their expansion into other states.
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“NextStep is leading the way in creating a new model for career education and advancement, enabling displaced workers to start pathways to quality careers in healthcare while meeting critical workforce gaps,” said Ben Walton, co-founder and principal of ZOMA Capital. “NextStep’s unique tuition-free certified nursing assistant training and job placement program broadens career growth opportunities for students and helps address the most pressing problem in long-term care. We’re delighted to support their work in our home state of Colorado and their growth nationally.”
“JFF’s mission of economic advancement for all involves accelerating innovative approaches to education and workforce development and expanding their impact,” said Joann Chen, director of ETF@JFFLabs. “NextStep is at the forefront of applying technology to health care learning, which has the potential to revolutionize the growth and diversification of the frontline health care workforce. This is an urgent need, and we’re thrilled to help NextStep get there.”
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The aging U.S. population is increasing rapidly, causing health care jobs to grow at significantly faster rates than the broader economy. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, six of the ten fastest growing jobs in the United States are in the health care industry, where jobs such as certified nursing assistants (CNAs) are projected to grow 41 percent by 2026. A 2016 study from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, found that the supply of health care workers is expected to fall short of projected global hiring demand by more than 15 million workers.
At the same time, millions of U.S. workers have been displaced by artificial intelligence, automation and, now, the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these people have already worked in fields, such as hospitality, using skills that are easily transferable to caregiving jobs in the health care sector.
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