Existing Workforce Training Program

2007 Existing Workforce Training Program Rules
EWTP 2007 Application Internal & Consultant Training

The Existing Workforce Training Program (EWTP) provides financial assistance to Arkansas's businesses and eligible consortia of businesses for upgrading the skills of the existing workforce. Skills upgrade training is instruction conducted in a classroom environment at a work site, an educational institution or a neutral location, that provides an existing, full-time employee with the new skills necessary to enhance productivity, improve performance and/or retain employment.

(Click here to learn more about Arkansas' workforce training consortia)

Eligible businesses:

  • Manufacturing – NAICS codes 31-33
  • Biotechnology – NAICS code 541710
  • National/Regional Corporate Headquarters – NAICS code 551114
  • Air transport – NAICS code 488190
  • Building Trades – NAICS codes 236 and 238 (23899 not eligible)

The following companies must derive at least 75 percent of sales revenue from out of state:

  • Computer Firms
  • Intermodal Facility or Distribution Center
  • Office Sector (non-retail business)
  • Scientific & Technical Services
  • Motion Picture Production
  • Eligible Employees

Training is for full-time, permanent employees who work at least 30 hours a week and are subject to Arkansas’s personal income tax.

Skills Upgrade Training

The training helps a company and its employees to:

  • Adapt to new or altered technologies of management and supervisory systems, continuous improvement or production needs
  • Acquire the new skills needed to remain competitive, productive and economically viable

The EWTP covers classroom instruction at a work site, an educational institution or a neutral location. Training delivered by means other than tradition classroom training may be considered by the EWTP governing council, who will establish a flat rate of reimbursement if the training is approved.

Funding Available

EWTP reimbursements are calculated according to a set of scoring criteria. For companies that use a state-supported educational institution, the program pays the lesser of the following: 50 percent of the cost of training paid to the school OR

  • $80 per instructional hour, times the number of instructional hours delivered by a full-time instructor or trainer; 50 percent or more eligible participants must complete each course.
  • $35 per instructional hour, times the number of instructional hours for safety-related training (regardless of instructor status).
  • $35 per instructional hour, times the number of instructional hours for all courses if fewer than 50 percent of eligible participants complete each course.
  • For companies that use their own employees or company-paid consultants to deliver classroom training to their employees, the EWTP offers an Arkansas income tax credit that cannot exceed $25 per instructional hour.

The maximum funding for any one company site cannot exceed $50,000 per calendar year.

To be considered for EWTP financial assistance, a company must submit an application 10 business days before training begins, provide assurance that the participants involved in the proposed training program possess the requisite literacy skills, and clearly tie the proposed training to specific business goals and performance objectives.

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