Wayne County Economic Development Council : Incentive

Ohio Workforce Guarantee Grants

Goal: The goal of the Ohio Workforce Guarantee Grants is to train employees of Ohio companies in targeted industries resulting in focused, transferable skills and portable credentials.

Targeted Industries: To participate, a company must be in the following targeted industries:

· Advanced Energy and Environmental Technologies

· Aerospace and Aviation

· Agriculture and Food Processing

· Bioscience and Bioproducts

· Corporate and Professional services

· Distribution and Logistics

· Instruments, Controls and Electronics

· Motor Vehicle and Parts Manufacturing

· Polymers and Advanced Materials

· Industry Sectors Identified by the Ohio Skills Bank Initiative in each Economic Development Region

Grant Awards: Awards will be made based on the following:

Size of Company Award Amount

1- 100 - up to $ 30,000

101- 300 - up to $ 90,000

301- 600 - up to $180,000

601 and over - up to $250,000

Reimbursement Levels will be:

75% of total cost of training

100% of total cost of training IF done through community colleges or adult career centers or other Dept. of Education or Board of Regents funded institutions or if training results in an industry recognized certification or credential.

Eligible Training Activities: The Ohio Workforce Guarantee Grant will reimburse the costs of the following types of training for trainees receiving at least $10.88 per hour:

· Technical training if a transferrable skill, includes maintenance and trades

· Quality, Lean Manufacturing, and process improvements (including new software required to run key business processes)

· Industry Specific Safety Training

· Supervisory skills

· Development of customized training materials and curriculum is also an eligible cost up to 10% of the grant

· Travel costs directly related to training up to 10% of the grant, lodging and transportation only.

· Assessments at 10% of the grant (training must follow)

Application Process: Regional Workforce Directors will meet with the company to assess training needs and develop a training plan with eligible training activities. A grant award is for 24 months, with closeout and final reimbursements in month 25 or 26.

Applications will be accepted on an on-going basis until funds are exhausted beginning July 1, 2009 for SFY2010 and July 1, 2010 for SFY 2011.

The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI) offers an Industrial Automation Maintenance Program that includes a Metalworking and Machining curricula. More than 80 local businesses have participated in this program. ATI also offers workforce development programs and corporate training to local businesses. ATI partners with companies to profile jobs, assess skill requirements, screen new hires, and deliver training that continually supports business success. These programs can be delivered onsite or at ATI facilities. Other areas of expertise include quality initiatives and leadership and supervision.

Wayne College houses a Workforce Development Department that assists companies in identifying gaps in desired levels of individual and organizational performance and applying customized training and assessment solutions to bring employee performance to the desired level. Areas of expertise include Leadership Skills, Continuous Improvement and Productivity, Sales Training and Customer Service,, Computer Training, Skill Assessments, Ethics and Compliance Training and Productivity and Quality Training.

These training programs are delivered with flexible scheduling, flexible locations and experienced trainers with real world experience. Training grants are often available from the State of Ohio to cover a large portion of the training costs. Wayne College can also draw upon the resources of a major University - Wayne College is a regional campus of The University of Akron, Ohio’s third largest public university.

Employment Training Connection - provides a number of services to expanding businesses such as:

Expanding Business Services

1) Assisting companies with staffing, crowd control and pre-interviewing of applicants.
2) General hiring assistance: job matching, interview space, testing, pre-screening.
3) Arrange for training of current employees to assist with promotions or retention of employee's current job. (ETC may be able to pay half of the cost)

New employee training:
1) On-the-Job-Training (reimburse employer for 50% of new employee wages during the training period 2) Arrange for paid or unpaid internships, ETC may pay the intern
3) Customize classroom training for the employer, ETC may pay up to half of costs

Employee retention services:
ETC may help pay for child care, work clothing and shoes, car repairs, short term transportation assistance and more.

Services for downsizing businesses:
On-site Employee sessions: unemployment insurance, re-employment and re-training services explained on-site.

Aversion of plant closing:
Access to state and federal assistance to avoid plant closing

Information services:
Tax credit information, labor market information, and employer workshops.

Most ETC services are at no charge to the employer.

Wage Surveys - The WEDC periodically conducts wage surveys of existing businesses to determine starting and median wages for a variety of occupational categories. One of the surveys also includes comprehensive information on benefit practices among local businesses. For a copy of this survey conducted in Wayne, Medina and Ahsland counties, click here. For a copy of the Northeast Ohio Wage Survey that reflects starting wages for a number of occcuptational categories, click here.

Additional Workforce Development Information

Ohio Workforce Informer – provides reports and data about employment levels, unemployment rates, wages and earnings, employment projections, jobs, training resources and careers.

SCOTI - Ohio’s Statewide job matching system

Ohio Department of Development’s Office of Strategic Research provides data and analysis on the Economic, Industrial, and Demographic trends of the State of Ohio, its businesses and its people.

U.S Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics is the principal fact-finding agency for the Federal Government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics.