State of Ohio Funding for Training

Funding for Training - state of Ohio

The state of Ohio is in process of formalizing a plan to invest monies collected from taxes on casino revenues into training for Ohio employees and organizations.

The program has not yet been announced.  The expectation is that the appropriate state official will make the announcement in the coming months.

The information below provides additional advance information.

Program Overview

• 50% of tuition reimbursed (up to $4,000 per employee and up to $500,000 per company) for qualifying employees and employers

Program Eligibility:

To be eligible for financial assistance, the following requirements must be met by both the employer and employee.

EMPLOYER ELIGIBILITY – an eligible employer must operate as a for-profit entity in a state-designated targeted industry with a facility located in Ohio that has been in continuous operation for the 12 months immediately prior to submitting the application.

Targeted industries are:

• Advanced Manufacturing

• Aerospace and Aviation
• Automotive
• BioHealth
• Corporate Headquarters
• Energy
• Financial Services
• Food Processing
• Information Technology and Services
• Polymers and Chemicals

EMPLOYEE ELIGIBILITY – an eligible employee is someone who is directly employed by the company at a facility located within Ohio and meets all of the following requirements:

• Employed in any of the following business functions: production, back office operations, information technology, logistics, or research and development
• Earning an hourly wage of at least 150 percent of the federal minimum wage ($10.88 as of January 1, 2012) plus benefits
• An Ohio resident
• At least 18 years of age
• Working at least 25 hours per week

Note: an employee who is employed in a retail/service function is not eligible for the voucher program.

Eligible training activities include:

• Classes, either non-credit or credit, at an accredited education institution
• Training that leads to an industry recognized certificate
• Training provided in conjunction with the purchase of a new piece of equipment
• Upgrade of computer skills (e.g. Excel, Access)
• Training for the ICD-10-CM/PCS diagnostics classification system (regardless of whether the employee works for a for-profit or non-profit employer)
• Training from a national, regional, or state trade association that offers an independently certified training curriculum and testing
• Training for improved process efficiency (e.g. ISO-9000, Six Sigma or Lean Manufacturing).

Ineligible training activities include (but are not limited to)

Training that is not eligible include:

• Training that is already being reimbursed by another State or Federal training program (e.g. Ohio Workforce Guarantee, National Emergency Grant, etc.)
• Continuing Education Units (CEUs) required for continued professional certification
• Soft Skills (e.g. diversity, ethics, HR law, management and leadership, sexual harassment, etc.)
• Training which is reimbursed/required by other public agencies or departments (e.g. OSHA, Worker’s Compensation)
• General Equivalency Diploma (GED)
• Profit-oriented courses (e.g. sales, marketing research, and Dale Carnegie training)
• Conference fees
• Wages of trainees while being trained
• Travel costs

Below is a list of information that will be requested on the application.

• Company Information: Company Legal Name, Address, FTI#, NAICS Code, Industry Type, Description of Business, Date of Establishment in Ohio, Number of Employees in Ohio, and Company contact information.

• Employee/Trainee Information: Employee Name, Job Title, SSN (will be encrypted via our IT office), Date of Birth, Work Address, Ohio Resident Requirement (Yes/No), Hire Date, Work Function (Back Office, IT, Logistics, Production, Research & Development), Job Description, and Hourly Wage Rate.

• Training: Name and Address of Training Provider(s), Course Title, Course Description, Training Start and End Dates, Training Will Result In (Certificate of Completion, College Credit, Industry Recognized Certificate, Other, Systems Certification), Training Outcomes for Company (Secure a New Contract, New Domestic Market, Expansion of an Existing Client Base, New Export Market, New Business Partnership), and Training Costs per employee.

Training Summary: Training Outcome for the Employee (New Skill for Current Position, Training for Career Advancement, Skill Modernization, Training for a New Position/Promotion). If you have assigned an employee to more than one course, you will have to repeat this process for each course they are assigned