CFDA#
None
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Funder Type
State Government
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IT Classification
B - Readily funds technology as part of an award
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Authority
New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Summary
New Jersey is committed to the creation of a talent development system, focused on ensuring that all New Jerseyans have the skills, abilities and connections to find jobs and that build a skilled workforce which drives economic growth. In order to achieve these goals, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development has established a framework which includes three primary goals. All training grant programs will be:
- High-Quality, Employer-Driven Partnerships;
- Focus on achieving Industry-Valued Credentials; and
- Promote the development and integration of Career Pathways
The Skills Partnership Training Grant funds are competitively awarded to New Jersey employers to provide up to 50% cost reimbursement assistance to train current and/or new employees to meet the current and future skill requirements of available high skilled/high wage jobs in New Jersey. Grant funds are intended to seed” organizational training and are not intended for annual training or training that would otherwise be conducted without grant assistance. All grants awarded must be:
- Employer driven - the employer decides who receives training and what type of training is needed;
- Shared costs - eligible training costs are shared between LWD and the employer 50-50;
- Outcome based – training must focus on a specific business solution and participants should receive a portable recognized credential at the end of the training; and
- Focused on Front Line Trainees - training must be focused on those employees directly involved with the direct production of the good or service created by the applicant.
New Jersey has identified the following industry clusters as targeted sectors for FY19:
- Advanced Manufacturing;
- Financial Services;
- Health Care;
- Food Industry;
- Construction / Utilities;
- Retail, Hospitality and Tourism;
- Transportation, Logistics and Distribution; and
- Life Sciences.
Types of training eligible for Skills Partnership Grants include:
- 3rd Party Classroom Training
- Training provided to a group of trainees in a classroom setting conducted by a qualified instructor from an external third party training provider located in the State of New Jersey.
- On-the-Job Training or Company In-House Training
- Hands-on instruction or skill acquisition provided under the constant and direct guidance of a qualified trainer in the direct production of a good or service.
- Training performed by internal qualified company training instructors.
History of Funding
Approximately $6,000,000 was anticipated to be available in total funding for FY18. Individual businesses were able to apply for up to a maximum of $50,000. Industry-specific consortiums were able to apply for up to a maximum of $250,000.
Additional Information
Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria (100 maximum points):
- The business(es) listed in the application have not received a grant in the last three completed fiscal years. (10 points)
- Businesses seeking training are registered by NAICS code in one of the identified Targeted Industry Sectors. (10 Points)
- Narrative Questions to be answered as follows: (80 Points)
- Please explain why the training request is necessary specifically for your organization.
- Please describe how the training need requested was determined? What is the specific business problem you are seeking to address and how do the selected courses assist the business in achieving a solution?
- Please include as appropriate any organizational assessment(s) if any that were used to determine the training needs and outline the decision points for selecting the courses proposed in the grant application.
- Skills Partnership Grants are expected to provide training that would otherwise not be able to be conducted without grant assistance. Training requests are not to be for training that is required to be conducted on a regular basis or is considered to be standard business practice. Please describe the long range training plans your organization will follow to insure training is sustainable beyond grant assistance.
- Please explain how the proposed training will lead to both organizational performance improvement as well as front line employee growth.
- Will the requested training result in any Industry Recognized credential(s)?
- Please identify, and explain, if the credential(s) will be obtained during the course of the training grant?
- Please detail the credential(s) sought, and explain which courses lead to the attainment of the credential(s) within the timeframe of this grant.
6 KEY POINTS FOR POTENTIAL APPLICANTS TO CONSIDER:
- ?All employers must make a minimum financial contribution of 50% to the total cost of training associated with an application.
- All individual trainees are capped at receiving $1,500 in reimbursable training services in any grant application.
- Training is expected to be accurately planned to the best of the ability of the employer(s) participating in a grant application in order to minimize the need for later changes.
- Proposed training must be focused on the front line workers of an organization. (defined as those involved in the direct production of goods or services)
- Proposed training should lead to and/or achieve an industry valued credential for the business or trainee.
- Training classes are to be proposed in the most efficient delivery method with a minimum of 10 students per class.
Eligibility Details
The grant program is open to the following New Jersey eligible applicants:
- Individual employers;
- Any employer organization, labor organization, community-based organization or faith-based organization;
- Any industry-specific consortium comprised of two or more of the following: eligible individual employers, employer organizations and labor organizations, and community-based or faith-based organizations.
In keeping with the state's commitment of developing industry-specific, employer-driven partnerships, industry-specific consortiums are encouraged. In addition, New Jersey will give priority to businesses who are new to customized training and are currently under procurement or a military contract with the United States Department of Defense, the United States Department of Veteran's Affairs or any branch of the United States Armed Forces; or businesses who will provide training to veterans; or businesses who focus on the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Deadline Details
There are two distinct parts of the Application Process. The first part is the Pre-Application Process, which involves two steps, outlined below. Both steps must be completed to gain access to the second part of the Application Process, which is the completion of an online application in the SAGE system. Technical requirements for SAGE may be viewed at www.sage.nj.gov. The FY2019 Skill Partnership Grants Program will continue through the end of the fiscal year, unless all available grant funding is exhausted before June 30, 2019.
Pre-Application Stage 1
Applicants who do not have an NJ LWD account in the SAGE system must create an account by registering at: www.sage.nj.gov. Applicants with an existing NJ LWD SAGE account should log in to check for a Skills Partnership Grants folder.
Pre-Application Stage 2
A Letter of Intent (LOI) must be submitted on company letterhead via email to [email protected] by 12:00 Noon on the submission date for each round listed below. The information that must be included in this LOI is listed on the program guidance.
- 7/26/2018
- 9/19/2018
- 11/21/2018
- 1/23/2019
- 3/20/2019
After registration (step one) is complete and the LOI (step two) has been validated and accepted by LWD, the Pre-Application Process is complete and the applicant will be granted access to the application via SAGE. Once access is granted, log in to SAGE to complete the online application. The process includes uploading several required forms. The application, with all required forms uploaded to SAGE must be submitted no later than 12:00 Noon on the next submission date for each round. Those dates are as follows:
- 8/8/2018
- 10/3/2018
- 12/5/2018
- 2/6/2019
- 4/3/2019
Award Details
Approximately $10,000,000 is anticipated to be available in total funding for FY19. Individual businesses may apply for up to a maximum of $100,000. Industry-specific consortiums may apply for up to a maximum of $250,000. No individual business participating in a consortium can receive more than $25,000 in training from the grant.
The Skills Partnership/Customized Training Grant program can contribute up to a maximum of a 50% match to training costs incurred by a New Jersey employer in one of two ways:
- Reimbursement by clock hour of instruction received from a third party training provider(s). The maximum reimbursement rate of $200 per clock hour for the direct training costs associated with third party training delivery, includes:
- Tuition fees;
- Textbooks, software and other required materials;
- Examination/Credentialing fees.
- Reimbursement for 50% of the base wages of trainees participating in approved training conducted by the employer. Note this option is only available in direct employer applications and not available under consortium grants delivered by third party training providers.
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