Employer Grant - 2025 Q4 (For January 2026 Review)

Employer Grants are available to Idaho employers who are increasing their current workforce and/or retraining existing workers with skills necessary for specific economic opportunities or industrial expansion initiatives. The Idaho Workforce Development Council will accept Employer Grant applications on a non-competitive, first come, first-served basis.

A quantitative funding model is used for validating eligibility and to determine the maximum amount of funding for training per job for new and retained jobs based on several weighted factors. The policy committee will review the quantitative funding model annually. If the applicant has received a WDTF grant previously, past performance will be reviewed and taken into consideration for future awards. Grantees may have only one Workforce Development Training Fund Employer grant open at a time. The maximum amount of funds available to an employer is $250,000 per grant and $750,000 over a 10-year period. The grant review committee and policy committee may convene twice annually to develop and/or revise the rubric to evaluate qualitative aspects of the proposal and may set minimum thresholds for funding. The Workforce Development Council may approve an annual allocation of Workforce Development Training Funds to the program.

The Idaho Workforce Development Council will accept Employer Grant applications on a non-competitive, first come, first-served basis.

APPLICATIONS EMPLOYER SHALL PROVIDE AT A MINIMUM: • A description of the capital investments being made by the company and the need for training. • A detailed description of the leveraged resources, including cash and/or in-kind contributions, at a rate of no less than 25 percent, that will be dedicated to employee training during the performance period of the grant. Leveraged resources must be directly tied to training expenses, such as course fees, training materials, instructor costs, or mentor wages related to training. • A list of all positions and average wage. • A training plan that includes the anticipated training vendor, training title, training description, skills attainment, credentials, and cost. • The application must provide a description of why the company needs workforce development training funds, including why the costs are outside of regular business operations and budgets. REIMBURSIBLE EXPENDITURES WDTF grants may reimburse the following eligible expenses for training that provides transferrable skills gains or leads towards promotional opportunities: • Training costs associated with vendor provided training including instructor wages, reasonable travel costs and materials. • If the company provides internal training, the training fund can be used for curriculum development, curriculum purchase, non-production training aids such as simulators, and/or training the trainer. EXPENDITURES THAT ARE NOT REIMBURSIBLE: • Employee onboarding, • Recurring compliance trainings, • Safety training, • Enterprise resource planning system (ERP) training, • Sales training, • Leadership training, and • Wages paid to individuals receiving training, • Continuing education to maintain an existing certification.

ELIGIBILITY Idaho employers who are increasing their current workforce and/or retraining existing workers with skills necessary for specific economic opportunities or industrial expansion initiatives. The fund is designed to support an employer’s innovation of its processes, products and services; and/or the development of new goods or services which will improve the employer’s or employee’s competitive position within the industry. • Must be registered with the Secretary of State to do business in Idaho and be in "good standing". • Entry level wage must be no lower than the 25th percentile wage for the occupation at the Idaho Department of Labor regional level (cite OEWS website). If no wage exists at that level, default to the state level. Preference will be given for jobs that pay at or above the county average wage. • Training must lead to a significant wage increase (i.e. beyond typical cost of living/annual increases) for existing workers based on the skill set attained during training. This criteria does not apply to new jobs. • Employer must provide a health benefit plan. “Health benefit plan” means: o any hospital or medical policy or certificate, o any subscriber contract provided by a hospital or professional service corporation, or managed care organization subscriber contract. Health benefit plan does not include:  - policies or certificates of insurance for specific disease,  - hospital confinement indemnity,  - accident-only, credit, dental, vision, Medicare supplement, long term care or disability income insurance,  - student health benefits only coverage issued as a supplemental to liability insurance,  - workers compensation or similar insurance,  - automobile medical payment insurance,  - or nonrenewable short-term coverage issues for a period of twelve (12) months or less. EXCLUSIONS Temporary and contract positions do not qualify for training reimbursement. • Employer training costs incurred during a temp-to-hire process with a temporary employment agency will become eligible for reimbursement at such time as the employee is hired into a full-time permanent position with the employer paying at least $12 per hour with employer assisted medical benefits. Temporary employees hired only to meet seasonal demand do not qualify as temp-to-hire.

Grantees are required to submit quarterly reports as delineated in the written contract. THE QUARTERLY REPORT WILL INCLUDE PROVISION OF THE ENTIRE 9-DIGIT SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER OF THE TRAINEES/PARTICIPANTS

CONTRACTUAL TERMS • Grant period is for two years. • Only Idaho taxable full-time, non-seasonal employees are eligible for reimbursement. • Grantees are required to submit quarterly reports as delineated in the written contract. The quarterly report will include provision of the entire 9-digit social security number of the trainees/participants. PERFORMANCE METRICS The return on investment shall be measured by: • Number of employees trained. • Wage gains at one-year post training. • Employee retention (at the employer who trained them and/or another Idaho employer). • Capital investment in expansion/technology updates that precipitated the grant. • The executive director of the Idaho Workforce Development Council is authorized to impose a claw back provision when they determine it to be in the best interest of the fund.