What is the Workforce Training Fund?

The Workforce Training Fund is a state fund, financed entirely by Massachusetts’ employers, and enacted into law in July of 1998. Its purpose is to provide resources to Massachusetts business and workers to train current and newly hired employees. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Division of Career Services administers the fund.

What is its mission?
The mission of the Workforce Training Fund is to provide the applicants with resources they need to invest in the Massachusetts workforce and to improve employee skills, and maintain the economic strength and viability of the commonwealth's businesses. The funds major focus is on small to medium-sized businesses that would not be able to make this investment without the assistance of the fund.

Training funded by this program should address the following priorities of the fund:

• Projects that will result in job retention, job growth or increased wages.

• Projects where training would make a difference in the company's productivity, competitiveness, and the ability to do business in Massachusetts.

• Projects where the applicant has made a commitment to provide significant private investment in training for the duration of the grant, and after the grant has expired.

What Kind Of Training Is Allowable?

The Workforce Training Fund does not impose restrictions on training- what is taught, how it is taught, and when it is taught is up to the employer. There are no rigid standards for subject matter or hours of instruction. The duration of training may be up to two years.

In-house expert trainers or external vendors may provide training. There is no minimum or maximum amount that the program will invest per employee, but applications will be judged on cost effectiveness.

Training, however, must be job specific and a program such as an elementary new employee orientation will not be funded, nor will a training program designed exclusively to meet a legal mandate, such as OSHA training.

What are my financial obligations?

The total amount of the grant must be matched on at least a dollar-for-dollar basis by the applicant and/or partner organizations. The match may be cash or in-kind.

Who is eligible to apply?

Training grants are direct grants awarded competitively to employers, employer organizations, labor organizations, and training providers, to train current and newly hired workers.

By partnering with an employer, a group of employers, or employees, the following are eligible to apply for Technical Assistance grants: industry associations, labor organizations, community colleges, career centers, Workforce Investment Boards, and other entitles with expertise in providing technical assistance for training.

Who is eligible for training?

Massachusetts-based employers. This means that workers whose training is funded by this program must be working at a location in the state.

How long can my training program(s) last?

Training programs must be completed within two years. Technical Assistance projects are not expected to exceed six months.

How can my company or organization apply?

Application packets are available from a variety of sources. You can call the Greater Lowell Workforce Investment Board at 978-459-2336, extension 4814 and ask to speak with Barbara O'Neil, Director or send an email to Barbara at oneilb@nmsda.org. You may also call the Massachusetts Division of Career Services at 1-800-252-1591, or visit their website at www.detma.org/workforce


Workforce Training Fund Applications

For more information on application deadlines for Workforce Training Fund Grants, please go to:
www.detma.org/workforcehome.htm

What additional paperwork is required?

Grantees will complete a grant activity summary to accompany each request for payment and will be asked to provide an evaluation on the project's effectiveness upon its completion.

What are the criteria for approval?

Applications will be reviewed using the following selection criteria:

1. Comprehensiveness and soundness of the project's training plan, including the appropriateness and qualifications of the trainer (30 points)
2. Delineation of clear, measurable objectives, and the likelihood of achieving those objectives (25 points)
3. Project budget, including cost effectiveness of the project's training plan and comprehensiveness of financial information provided (25 points)
4. Consistency with the Workforce Training Fund mission and general priorities, as well as the Fund's statutory mandate (see Chapter 175 of the Acs of 1998, sec.3) (15 points)
5. Completeness of response to the application. (5 points)

The points assigned above are intended solely to convey the relative importance of each selection criterion; applications will not be given numerical scores when they are reviewed.

Applications with merit that are not funded in one grant cycle may be carried forward to the next at the discretion of the Workforce Training Fund Advisory Panel. Applicants will be notified in writing if this is the case.

Technical assistance grants will be reviewed using these criteria:

Need: How necessary is this to the employer/employees involved? (30 points)
Project design and objectives. (20 points)
Organizational capacity. (15 points)
Budget and cost effectiveness. (20 points)
Consistency with fund mission and priorities. (10 points)
Completeness of application. (5 points)

How will grants be approved?

The Division of Career Services will award grants. Applications will be screened by the Workforce Training Fund Advisory Panel, which includes representatives from business and labor.

How long will the grant approval process take?

Decisions will be made approximately 60-75 days after the deadline for applications.

What if my application is not approved?

Applicants will be informed in writing of the reasons that their application was not approved and may re-apply in a subsequent round if they so desire.

Who is administering this program?

The Division of Career Services (D.C.S.) an agency of the Massachusetts Department of Workforce Development (DWD), is administering the program. The Commonwealth Corporation (CommCorp) and the Massachusetts Office of Business Development (MOBD) of the Department of Economic Development are partner agencies.
Assistance is also provided by the Commonwealth's Workforce Investment Boards.

Whom do I contact for assistance and more information?
Call 1-800-252-1591 (or) contact Barbara O'Neil, Director at (978) 937-9816 or oneilb@nmsda.org.