Deval L. Patrick, Governor
Timothy P. Murray, Lieutenant Governor Joanne F. Goldstein, Secretary
Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development George Moriarty, Director, Department of Career Services
MASSACHUSETTS
WORKFORCE TRAINING FUND
PROGRAM
OVERVIEW
Michael Corcoran
Workforce Training Fund Program Supervisor of Operations
BSR CONFERENCE SEMINAR
Provide business and labor organizations funds for
training initiatives
Upgrade skills of Massachusetts workers
Fund projects that:
◦ Promote job growth, job retention, or increased wages
◦ Improve productivity, competitiveness, and ability to do
business in Massachusetts
◦ Include employers who have made a commitment to
provide significant private investment in training during and after the grant.
Enacted by Massachusetts State Legislature in
1998
Funded by employer contributions - $8.40 per
employee collected with quarterly UI payments
State appropriation historically $18M - $21M
each year
General Program:
• General Program awards grants up maximum of $250,000 to train
employees
• Employers, employer groups and labor organizations are eligible to
apply
• General Program grants may not exceed two years
• General Program grant recipients must match grant award
• General Program grants are evaluated against criteria
Technical Assistance:
• Technical assistance grants are grants to help an employer, or a group
of employers or employees, determine a set of training needs
• Eligible applicants for technical assistance grants include industry
associations, labor organizations, community colleges, administrative entities for local workforce investment areas, and other entities with expertise in providing technical assistance for training.
Massachusetts companies are eligible as well as companies
moving to Massachusetts
Department of Revenue Certificate of Good Standing required
Gubernatorially-appointed 9-member Advisory Board
Rolling application process
Trust fund established for all collected funds for the
Companies Funded- 3,532
Dollars Awarded- $200 Million
Workers Trained- 286,340
General Program Grant maximum award
$250,000.
Technical Assistance Grant maximum award
$25,000.
Consortium Grants maximum award $250,000.
Express Program maximum award $30,000.
Hiring Incentive Training Grant maximum award
All
companies must pay quarterly into Workforce
Training Fund. Self insured companies are not
eligible.
All
trainees must be
employed
in Massachusetts
All companies must be current with
Unemployment Insurance, Unemployment Health
Insurance, Fair Share, Current Workers
Compensation Coverage and current Mass.
Department of Revenue Certificate of Good
Standing.
Massachusetts Department of Revenue
Certificate of Good Standing (CGS)
Fair Share Contributions
Unemployment Insurance (UI)
New Director- Cheryl Scott
617-626-6107
Sunset Date- The Sunset Date of 12/31/2012 was removed.
There is no longer a Sunset Date.
Trust Fund- All collections for WTFP are now put into a trust
fund. All unspent funds or returned funds remain in the trust.
New online application for the General Program grant.
Rolling application for the General Program grant.
Decisions are made once a month on the General Program
grant.
Hiring Incentive Training Grant, Express Grants and the
Commonwealth Corporation, a quasi-public state
agency, reviews, administers and provides fiscal
oversight to General Program grants in excess of
$50,000
Contact - Rob Duncan
617-717-6927
2 Oliver St, 5th Floor
Boston, MA 02109
Oversight of all General Program grants $50,000
and under, Express Program, Hiring Incentive
Training Grant (HITG) and Technical Assistance
Grants are by the DCS Workforce Training Fund
staff.
Information Sessions- 90 minutes general overview of the
WTFP highlighting all programs.
NEW-General Program Application Workshop- 3 hour
comprehensive review of the General Program Application for companies ready to apply or working on an application for submission.
Target Audience for Outreach- Business Groups,
Associations, Chambers emerging industries.
Partners- Career Centers/Business Service reps, Workforce
Investment Boards, Mass Office of Business Development (MOBD), local city and town Economic Development Offices, Community Colleges– ALWAYS LOOKING FOR MORE
Coming Attractions
◦ Application Workshop for both the Consortium Grant and
•
Comprehensive and Sound Training Plan
•Clear, Measurable Objectives
•
Cost Effective Budget; Stable Financial
Position
•
Consistent with WTF Mission and Priorities
•Complete Application
Training Grants
Flexible customized training
Grant requires a minimum of 1:1 match
Financials required
Rolling Application Process
$250,000 maximum grant
2-year maximum training
Online application available
Technical Assistance Grants
$25,000 maximum
6 month maximum grant
Assessment of workers skills deficiencies and
development of skills based training plan
General Program Totals
Number of Companies Funded: 2,184 Dollars Awarded: $187 Million
• Program to encourage hiring dislocated Massachusetts residents • On-line application
• Quick review and approval process (5-10 days) • No financials required
• $2,000 grant award per eligible employee/payment after 120 days of employment • Maximum award of $30,000 per company per 12-month period
• 12 months starts with date of 1st hire
• Job-related training
• External training or in-house trainer
• Match consists of employee wages paid while in training • 12-month maximum training period
Hired Employee must be a Massachusetts resident
Eligible Trainees:
◦ Employees hired within 30 days of application
◦ Unemployed for a minimum of 6 months and permanently separated
from the previous employer.
◦ Veterans (DD214) required – 6 month unemployment period waived
◦ Full and part time hires
• When should a company apply?
• As soon as the hire takes place. Don’t wait until the company has a Mass. Dept. of Revenue Certificate of Good Standing.
HITG Program Totals
Number of Companies Funded: 600 Dollars Awarded: $6.2 Million
Not Eligible:
• Temporary Workers • Contract Workers • Seasonal Workers
• Workers on recall from layoff • High School students
• Fast way to get off-the-shelf training • On-line application
• Businesses with 50 or fewer employees • No financials required
• Employer chooses from a list of pre-approved courses • Fast application process (10-business days)
• Rolling application
• $30,000 per employer per 24 months; $3,000 per trainee per course
• Employer reimbursed 50% of training cost
• 12-month maximum training period per course.
Express Program Totals
Number of Companies Funded: 1,107 Dollars Awarded: $6.6 Million
Overview
The Workforce Training Fund Program awards grants to Massachusetts businesses and organizations to train their current and newly hired workers.
The purpose of the fund is to provide businesses with the resources to upgrade the skills of its workers and to improve the companies’ ability to be more competitive in a global economy. Since it’s inception in 1998, the Workforce Training Fund Program has awarded $199 million dollars to over 4000 Massachusetts businesses to train over 250,000 workers. The program is funded by Massachusetts business through a surcharge on
Unemployment Insurance.
Program Highlights:
There are five (5) Workforce Training Fund grant programs available:
◦ The General Program Training Grant awards grants of up to $250,000 for customized training of the company’s choosing to train their current or newly hired workers. The maximum grant period is 2 years.
◦ The General Program Consortium Grant awards grants of up to $250,000 to assist multiple companies with similar training needs to implement a customized training program as a collective group. The maximum grant period is 2 years.
◦ The General Program Technical Assistance Grant awards grants of up to $25,000 to assist companies with similar training needs to asses worker skill gaps and to develop a training plan that address those skill gaps. The maximum grant period is 6 months.
◦ The Express Grant Program is for small businesses (companies of 50 or fewer employees.) Grants of up to $30,000 are awarded to companies for sending workers to pre-approved training courses. Grant awards are used to
reimburse companies at 50% the cost of the training upon completion of training. Maximum grant period is 24 months.
◦ The Hiring Incentive Training Grant awards grants of up to $30,000 for companies to hire and train Massachusetts residents who have been unemployed 6 months or longer, or who are veterans. Companies are awarded $2000 per each new hire.
The fiscal year 2012 operating budget for the Workforce Training Fund is $21 million.
All monies collected via the Unemployment Insurance surcharge are deposited in a newly established trust fund for the exclusive use of the
Workforce Training Fund Program.
All Massachusetts companies that pay Unemployment Insurance and also pay the Workforce Training Fund surcharge are eligible to apply for
Workforce Training Fund grants.
Contact Information:
Website: www.mass.gov/wtfp General Number: (800) 252-1591 Email: [email protected]
Website: www.mass.gov/wtfp Phone: (800) 252-1591
Fax: (617) 723-5594
General Program Information
Michael Corcoran, Supervisor of Operations, DCS Tel: (617) 626-6426
Cell: (857)753-3494 Email: [email protected]
Robert Duncan, Sr. Program Manager, Commonwealth Corporation Tel: (617) 717-6927
Email: [email protected]
Express and HITG Information Jason Albert, Assistant Director
Tel: (617) 626-5190 Email: [email protected]
