Daily Record - June 22, 2007
NEW YORK
STATE
TRAINING GRANTS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
By Kevin McPherson
If you are a small business owner and are looking for ways to stay competitive in today’s economy, enhancing the skills of your workforce is essential. If this is the case with your business, New York State (NYS) may be interested in partnering with you to help train employees without you having to break the bank.
As a result of the Workforce Investment Act, approximately $12 million of NYS funds have been set aside to help small businesses train existing employees. This program, known as ADVANCE-NY, is designed specifically for small businesses, as their growth is seen as essential for NYS to remain competitive in today’s global marketplace.
Under this program, small businesses may apply for grants up to $50,000 per year with a lifetime maximum of $100,000. However, if the training cost exceeds $2,000 per trainee, the business owner must pay the difference.
Those businesses with over 100 employees are required to match 25% of the cost of the training program. For example, a business may submit a grant application for a training program totaling $66,667, and still receive $50,000 in grant proceeds with the remaining 25% of the expenses to be covered by the applicant.
To qualify for this program the proposed training must be completed within a six month period, however a three month no-cost contract extension may be extended at the discretion of the NYS Department of Labor (NYSDOL). A business may apply for a second grant six months after applying for a prior grant as long as the business has not reached the $50,000 annual limit or the $100,000 lifetime limit.
This grant program is on a first come first serve basis. Applicants are not compared to other applicants during the review process, rather applications are “scored” on their own merits.
To qualify for this program all applicants must first meet minimum eligibility requirements, a few of which are mentioned below. The NYSDOL will assign an application a passing or failing grade based on these criteria. Eligible businesses that fail will be notified and will have an opportunity to resubmit a revised application. If an application receives a passing score, but the training program costs are not deemed to be reasonable, the NYSDOL reserves the right to reject the application.
Some of the criteria that a business applicant must meet are:
· The business must be a private sector, for-profit or not-for-profit business that has at least four employees;
· It must be headquartered or have at least one location in NYS at the time of application (funds awarded to applicants must be expended on employees working within NYS). Businesses with multiple NYS locations are eligible for only one ADVANCE-NY award, not one per location, if the NYSDOL deems the businesses to be part of a “greater whole”. This is true even if the separate locations operate under separate names and separate federal identification numbers.
· The workers targeted for training must receive a wage increase as a result of their participation in the training program,
· The applicant must be able to demonstrate that their training program is designed to provide current employees with occupational skills that are needed within that specific industry or business and that the skills acquired are transferable. The grant proceeds are used primarily to cover the cost of the program instruction that meets this criteria and cannot be used for:
o Purchase of textbooks and training manuals,
o Purchase of any equipment or software,
o General skills training (e.g. management and supervision, communication, teamwork, time management, etc.),
o Basic computer literacy training,
o Soft skills training,
o Payment of fees associated with attendance at conferences,
o Required training as part of a federal, state, or local government mandate.
If and when a training program is approved, the grant money is not paid up front, rather it is received as reimbursement for costs incurred. As part of the reimbursement process, the business must submit reports to the NYSDOL. The NYSDOL uses these reports to monitor whether the grantee is adhering to the criteria outlined in their application and the program is resulting in the intended outcomes. If these are not met, the NYSDOL may withhold a portion of the original grant amount.
The actual training program must take place on company time and trainees must be compensated at no less than their normal rate of pay while they are participating in the program. The program may be lead by a training provider or an in-house instructor either in the form of on-site training, off-site training, or distance learning. There are no funds available for administrative costs.
It is important that small businesses that have reason to spend the time and money on the training of their workforce take advantage of this program. If few small business applications are received or not enough applications meet the required criteria, the unawarded amounts of the small business set-aside will be lost and awarded to larger businesses.
If your workforce could use additional training to maintain their competitive advantage, why not take advantage of this ADVANCE-NY program. The time and costs spent applying for these grants will pale in comparison to the training dollars saved and the additional revenue your business may generate with a more skilled workforce.
Kevin McPherson, CPA is a manager with Mengel, Metzger, Barr & Co. LLP. He can be reached at 585/423-1860 or Kmcpherson@mmb-co.com.
