On August 14, 2017, Governor Eric Holcomb rolled out Indiana’s Next Level Jobs initiative and announced two new grants designed to help Indiana job seekers and employers to seek and grow high-demand, high-wage jobs quickly in the future. The Workforce Ready Grant will assist with training adults to fill jobs in high-demand industries. The Employer Training Grant will help offset training costs employers assume when they train new employees in those high-demand industries. Applications for the grants can be found at www.NextLevelJobs.org.

The Workforce Ready Grant covers the full tuition costs for adult learners to earn career certificates/degrees in high-demand industries such as advanced manufacturing, building and construction (Electricians fall under this category), health and life sciences, IT and business services, as well as transportation and logistics. You can find a listing of the occupations here: List of Eligible Occupations. Eligible adult learners can earn these free certificates through Ivy Tech Community College or Vincennes University campuses.

The Employer Training Grant program will provide up to $2,500 per new employee to qualifying companies that train and retain new hires for at least 6 months up to a maximum of $25,000 per company. The Employer Training Grant targets the same high-demand industries as the Workforce Ready Grant above. The grant pays for training associated with the most in-demand “middle skills” occupations which are those defined as requiring more than a high school diploma but less than an associate’s degree. If the employee or employer receives another state grant that directly ties to training costs for the employee (Workforce Ready Grant noted above, SEF Grants, etc), an employer would be ineligible for this Employer Training Grant. Training must be occupational skills training that ties to one of the in-demand occupations (HR training and job shadowing do not qualify) and employers must use one of the training providers on the Indiana Department of Workforce Development’s eligible training provider list. Eligible training providers are listed here: Eligible Training Providers.

Should you need assistance with these grants please contact Somerset at 317-472-2200 or .