Iowa Jobs Training Program provides forgivable loans to Iowa businesses to train existing workers. The purpose of the program is to help Iowa businesses become more competitive within their industries by providing them with the resources to maximize the skills and productivity of their workers.
How does a business qualify?
- Businesses engaged in manufacturing, processing, warehousing, wholesaling or conducting research and development.
- Businesses in service industries must serve customers outside of Iowa.
Not Eligible:
- Health and professional service businesses.
- Retail businesses.
- Businesses involved in a strike, lockout, or other labor dispute.
- Businesses that close or substantially reduce their workforce in Iowa in order to relocate the same operation to another area in the state are not eligible for program services for three years after the date the new operation opens.
What jobs are eligible?
- Program services are available to employees who are currently employed by the business, and for whom the business pays withholding tax.
- Training equipment, materials, and supplies.
- College, company, or contracted training provider.
- Training-related travel.
Not Eligible:
- Employee wage costs while receiving training.
- Replacement workers who are hired as a result of a strike, lockout, or other labor dispute.
What kinds training are available?
- Any type of training that will benefit the company’s competitive position and enhance the skills or knowledge of the workers to be trained is eligible.
- The following list is a small sample of available training activities:
- Lean Manufacturing
- Workplace Lean
- ISO 9000
- CNC Machining
- Conventional Machining
- Microsoft Office Suite
- Welding {SMAW, GMAW, GTAW }
- Plasma and Oxyacetylene Cutting
- CNC Plasma
- Metallurgy
- Print Reading
- Hydraulics/Pneumatics
- Electrical/PLC
- Motor Controls/VFDs
- Workplace Literacy
- Safety
- Regulatory Compliance
- Supervisor/Managerial Training
- Communication
- Building Effective Teams
- Shop Math
Iowa Western Community College can assist you in diagnosing your company’s training needs and designing a training plan to make maximum use of the program services.
Apprenticeship training
Much of the training offered by Iowa Western Community College can be incorporated into an apprenticeship training program registered with the Department of Labor/Bureau of Apprenticeship Training. A resurgence in registered apprenticeship training has many companies experiencing the benefits of this approach with higher levels of technical expertise, lower turnover, and improved workplace morale. Ask your training consultant how we can help you set up an apprentice training program in your shop.
What types of funding are available?
- Awards are in the form of forgivable loans. Applications for assistance are competitively scored and compete for limited funding.
- The forgivable loan award will be forgiven if the business completes the training project within the period agreed to by the company and the college and trains the agreed number of employees.
- Maximum funding is $25,000 per project. No more than $50,000 can be awarded to a business over a three-year period.
- The business is required to fund a minimum of 25% of the training program costs. For awards of under $5,000, the business is not required to fund any portion of the training program.