Sep 4, 2017
An £8.5m fund has been set up to help smaller Cumbrian businesses avoid what's described as a "looming skills shortage", but the grants are only available until next July.
The county's chamber of commerce says about 80,000 new workers will have to be recruited by 2021 to replace staff who leave or fill new jobs.
Currently only 28% of workers in the county have a level four qualification such as an HNC, but 40% of the new jobs will need people trained to this level.
Find out more about the project at http://www.profitingthroughskills.co.uk/
This interview was broadcast on Mike Zeller's show on BBC Radio Cumbria on Monday 4th September, 2017.