$100,000 Available to Tri-County Employers Seeking to Train Current Employees

By The Charleston Chronicle

Federal Incumbent Worker Training Assistance (IWT) funds totaling $100,000 are available through the Workforce Innovations and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to assist tri-county employers in training current employees.

Private-sector employers in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties are eligible to receive funds, which must be used to train incumbent workers. The program is meant to assist with expansion, new technology, retooling, new services/product lines, and/or new organizational structuring. Incumbent worker training is not intended to fund periodic safety and refresher courses or occupational training for new hires.

Application submission deadline is 5 p.m. on Dec. 13, 2018.

“These funds will keep our region’s businesses and workers competitive in today’s rapidly evolving economy,” said BCDCOG executive director Ron Mitchum. “We encourage all eligible employers to apply quickly.”

INCUMBENT WORKER DEFINED

To qualify as an incumbent worker, individuals must:

• Be employed
• Meet the Fair Labor Standards Act requirements for an employer-employee relationship
• Have an established employment history with the employer for six months or more, unless the training is for a group of employees and the majority of employees in the specific training have been employed with the business for six months or more.

BUSINESS MATCH

Businesses or consortia participating in IWT are required to pay for the non-Federal share of the cost of providing training to their employees, which must not be less than:

• 10 percent of the costs for a business location with no more than 50 employees.
• 25 percent of the costs for a business location with more than 50 employees, but no more than 100 employees.
• 50 percent of the costs for a business location with more than 100 employees.

APPLICATIONS

IWT funds (excluding Rapid Response funded-IWT) are awarded on a competitive basis and given priority based on:

• Characteristics of the employees to be trained
• The relationship of the training to the competitiveness of both the employer and employee
• Per-participant cost
• Credential and skills gained as a result of the training
• Trainings in one of the in-demand sectors in the Trident area: Diversified Manufacturing, Transportation, Distribution & logistics, HealthCare, Information Technology, Construction Trades, Hospitality & Tourism.
• Employer size (The employer size defined in the application.)
  • Small: 50 or fewer employees
  • Medium: 51 to 100 employees
  • Large: 101 or more employees

Note: Businesses should list trainings in order of priority of need, because, at times, not all programs listed on applications may be approved due to funding availability.

BUSINESS ELIGIBILITY

• Training entities and providers are not eligible for IWT funding or to act on behalf of a business or group of businesses as a third party.

For more information or assistance with the application process, contact Sharon Goss, Workforce Development Director, SC Works Trident at (843) 529-0400 ext. 203 or via email at sharong@bcdcog.com. Please visit tridentscworks.org or bcdcog.com for information and an application.

This article originally appeared the Charleston Chronicle.