Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on August 6, 2025
BOISE, ID – U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer praised Idaho Launch during a Wednesday visit to companies in Boise and Cascade.
Gov. Brad Little’s workforce training scholarship offers high school graduates $8,000 to enroll in an Idaho university, college or job training program in an in-demand field. Chavez-DeRemer said preparing workers for “challenges and opportunities” is her “top priority,” and Launch is “keeping Idaho’s workforce competitive.”
“Idaho Launch is a powerful example of what’s possible when state leaders, employers and educators come together to invest in the American workforce and ensure more young people can pursue and attain in-demand, mortgage-paying jobs,” Chavez-DeRemer said in a news release.
A Republican, Chavez-DeRemer is a former U.S. House member from Oregon. For eight years, she served as mayor of Happy Valley, a small city in the Portland metropolitan area. President Donald Trump appointed her labor secretary at the start of his current term.
The Trump Administration’s recognition of Launch is padding for Little’s pet initiative heading into next year’s legislative session. Some powerful Idaho lawmakers — including House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star — have been critical of the program.
Little called Chavez-DeRemer’s endorsement a “defining moment” for the program.
“With Pres. Trump back in the White House and Sec. Chavez-DeRemer’s visit today, we are showcasing Idaho’s success with Launch as the blueprint for the rest of the country’s workforce training efforts,” Little said in the news release.
On Wednesday, Chavez-DeRemer toured Micron Technology’s Boise campus and, along with Little, recognized graduates and new enrollees in the company’s professional development programs.
Chavez-DeRemer and Little then traveled to Cascade, where they presented College of Western Idaho students with scholarships endowed by Perpetua Resources, a mining company that’s attempting to restore the Stibnite Gold Project mine near Yellow Pine.
The endowment is “meant to complement” costs not covered by Launch for students in CWI’s Mining Technician and Geosciences programs, the governor’s office said in the news release.
