General Program Guidelines

Existing General program guidelines (below) will remain in effect until 5 pm on Friday November 15, 2024. The General Program policy changes announced here: Workforce Training Fund Policy Updates will be reflected in new General Program guidelines to be released on December 3, 2024.

The Workforce Training Fund Program (WTFP) provides grants to help Massachusetts employers address business productivity and competitiveness by providing resources to Massachusetts businesses to fund training for current and newly hired employees. The Workforce Training Fund’s major focus is small to medium-sized businesses that would not be able to make an investment in improving employee skills without the assistance of the Fund. Training funded by the Workforce Training Fund Program should address the following priorities:

• 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 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.

Grants are awarded competitively to Massachusetts employers (or a consortium of employers) to train their current and newly hired full-time and part-time employees (i.e. incumbent workers).  Each month, more than $1 million in General Program Training Grants are expected to be awarded. Please carefully review the following program guidelines before applying.  Other restrictions may apply.

Program Guidelines

Eligibility:

• Companies of any size may apply.
• Only organizations that contribute to the Workforce Training Fund are eligible to take part in WTFP grant programs. (Please Note: All private, for-profit employers that are required to contribute to the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund in Massachusetts contribute to the Workforce Training Fund as do some non-profits. Non-profits that select the contributory method to finance Unemployment Insurance are eligible. Non-profits that select the reimbursable method are paying a discounted rate that does not include a contribution to the WTFP and therefore are not eligible. No federal, state or local government entities contribute and therefore are not eligible to take part in any grant-funded training.)
• A copy of a Certificate of Good Standing from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue that is less than 6 months old must be provided by applicants prior to being considered for a grant. In the case of a consortium application, any company with employees to be trained must also provide the certificate before an application will be considered.
• Applicants must also be in full compliance with all obligations to the Department of Unemployment Assistance, Department of Industrial Accidents, and any other obligations to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
• Applicants or their training providers who have been debarred from doing business with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or the Federal Government are not eligible to participate in Workforce Training Fund Programs.
• Companies must be in operation, with employees, long enough to have at least two full years of financial statements available for review to be considered for a grant.
• Companies must be financially viable to be eligible for a grant. Upon request, applicants must be able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of reviewers that the business is expected to operate as a going concern (e.g., the company is expected to continue operating for a period of time that is sufficient to carry out its commitments, obligations, and objectives) throughout the life of a grant. Credit risk assessment may be considered in determining if a company is a viable applicant. The two most recently completed years of company Financial Statements may be required.
• The General Program award recipients will not be considered for new grants until one year has elapsed from the close of a prior General Program training grant.
  • NOTICE: Due to the effects of Covid-19, WTFP temporarily offered a waiver of the one-year waiting period through June 30, 2023. As of July 1, 2023, all applications received are subject to the one year wait period.
• WTFP policy prohibits General Program funding for topics that were addressed in a prior grant until five years have passed since the closeout of the last grant.
  • NOTE: ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) is an exception. ESOL may be included in consecutive grants.

 Application Requirements

• Applications ranging from $10,000 to $200,000 are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year.
• All trainees must be W2 payroll employees of participating companies that are employed in Massachusetts. (They are not required to live in Massachusetts.) Contractors or employees of other firms (e.g. temps) are not eligible to participate.
• All trainees must be paid at their regular pay rates during training hours.
• WTFP grants will not be awarded to subsidize existing or ongoing training expenses. Grants must supplement, but not replace private investment in training. Training that would otherwise take place without a grant will not be funded.
• Grants must be matched dollar-for-dollar by grant recipients. The matching requirement takes into account training-related expenses such as the cost of wages and fringe of trainees during training hours. In other words, the cost to the company of employee training time counts toward the dollar-for-dollar match. Typically, the cost of wages and fringe of employees during training hours is sufficient to meet matching requirements.
  • NOTE: ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) is a priority of the Workforce Training Fund. Effective immediately, new General Program applications that include workplace ESOL are not required to meet the dollar-for-dollar matching requirement if the application otherwise meets the match in absence of the ESOL module(s). ​​For example, if the total grant request is $150,000, with $50,000 designated for ESOL, the matching funds for the non-ESOL modules must total at least $100,000. If your training plan includes ESOL please review the policies and best practices. If you have further questions contact [email protected].
• Employers may use the training provider(s) of their choice. In rare cases, grant funds may be used to cover the cost of internal trainers (company employees) if no suitable alternative is available. Applicants must provide information about the qualifications and costs of training providers, as well as the selection process used to choose proposed providers.
• Grants funds may be applied only to the direct cost of delivering instruction. Grant funds may not pay for the costs of preparation, planning, travel, or consulting services. Training should apply best practices, be distinguishable from consulting services, reasonably priced, appropriate for proposed trainees, and logically relate to business objectives with quantifiable performance indicators (i.e. success metrics).
• Most WTFP funded training is instructor-led, group-based training. It is not advisable to propose coaching and/or one-on-one training.
• Applicants should negotiate the costs of instruction and related training materials with training providers to ensure that proposed costs are reasonable, necessary, and competitive. Vendor fees are expected to be approximately comparable to average rates for training funded in all other Workforce Training Fund Program grants.
• The average market-based rate for grant-funded, instructor-led group training is approximately $325 per hour of instruction, including materials. If an application includes courses that exceed $350 per hour of instruction, including materials, the application will be reviewed.  If it is otherwise approvable, the applicant should expect conditional approval including a reduced grant amount.
• If an applicant wishes to include courses with rates greater than $350 per hour of instruction, they may do so by including costs in excess of $350 per hour of instruction as matching expenses to be paid out of pocket by the grant recipient. For example, an 8-hour course that costs $3600 could include up to $2800 in grant funds and at least $800 in matching contributions.
• Fees for courses are expected to be market-based, even if they do not exceed $350 per hour. If market-based fees for comparable training are significantly lower than the requested amount, the applicant should expect a reduced grant amount.
• Grant funds may be used to pay for training that takes place once a grant is awarded and a contract is executed. Expenses incurred before or after the designated contract period will not be eligible to be paid for with grant funds.
• Training programs must be completed within a two-year period.
• Applications that do not meet the technical requirements (e.g. incomplete application, ineligible organization(s), or missing documentation) will not be considered for funding.
• Workforce Training Fund administrators may perform a post-training analysis of grant-funded training to analyze its effectiveness and methodology. Grantees may be required to provide information including, but not limited to participant-level data. Companies will be notified in advance of information requests and will be given sufficient time to provide available information.
• Sensitive information such as trade secrets, commercial, or financial information disclosed in the application for, or administration of, a Workforce Training Fund Program grant is protected from public record by the law that authorizes the Workforce Training Fund (see section 2, subsection e). All financial statements and information pertaining to the earnings of individual employees will be protected from public records. Any additional trade secrets, commercial, or financial information that should be protected from the public record should be identified by applicants or grant recipients.

Priorities

• Greater weight will be given to applications that address selection criteria associated with job growth and/or increases in skills/opportunities of low-skill or low-wage workers.
• Employers who are registered in the Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office, Directory of Certified Businesses in any of the following categories are encouraged to apply:
  • Minority Business Enterprise (MBE)
  • Women Business Enterprise (WBE)
  • Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE)
  • Airport Concession-DBE (ACDBE)
  • Portuguese Business Enterprise (PBE)
  • Veteran Business Enterprise (VBE)
  • Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Enterprise (LGBTBE)
  • Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Enterprise (SDVOBE)
  • Disability-Owned Business Enterprises (DOBE)
• Please note: The Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office, Directory of Certified Businesses includes information about certification by the Supplier Diversity Office as well as other agencies, including:
  • Supplier Diversity Office (SDO) – State
  • MassDOT Office – UCP
  • City of Boston (COB)
  • Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC)
  • National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC)
  • National Gay and Lesbians Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC)
  • S. Business Leadership Network (USBLN)
  • Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VetBiz)

• Employers are encouraged to apply for grants focusing on adult basic education (ABE) and/or English for speakers of other languages (ESOL).
• Consortium applications that include multiple businesses collaborating to address similar training needs are encouraged.

Application Process Overview

Applications are accepted and grants are awarded on a rolling basis throughout the year. Award decisions are expected within 60 days of submitting a complete application. Applicants will be notified of the decision via email to the contact provided. If an application is not approved, review findings will be provided in writing and eligible applicants may resubmit a revised application at any time.

Applicants must provide a variety of information about the company, the purpose and impact of the training project proposed, a detailed description of the project and related expenses, and information about the training providers proposed. Applicants must agree to provide two full years of financial statements upon request to be considered for a grant. Financial statements may be needed to determine that the applicant is a viable candidate for funding.

Click here to apply for a grant.

Click here to see a sample application.

Click here for answers to Frequently Asked Questions.

Once an application is complete, it must be authorized by the company president, CEO, COO, CFO, or another senior manager who is authorized to agree to the following stipulations:

I certify that all information contained in this application is true and accurate and understand that falsification of information may be cause for application non‐review, award revocation, and/or debarment. If selected, I agree to meet the matching obligations outlined in this application. In addition, I certify the following:

• I / We, the undersigned, do hereby certify that my business has complied with all laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts relating to: taxes, reporting of employees and contractors, and withholding and remittance of child support (M.G.L. c. 62C, § 49A(a)); unemployment insurance contributions (M.G.L. c. 151A, § 19A); workers’ compensation insurance (M.G.L. c. 152, § 25A and 25C(6)); and classification of employees (M.G.L. c. 149, § 148B). I understand that compliance with these laws may be verified by multiple government entities and that false attestation of compliance may be considered just the cause of denial of application and other penalties.

• I certify that prior to authorizing this application I performed due diligence by thoroughly reviewing the content of the application.

• I certify that this application is not being authorized by anyone else on my behalf.
  

• I agree to meet the requirements of the Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund Program if selected for a grant award

• I understand that a valid Certificate of Good Standing from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Revenue must be provided with the application. The Certificate of Good Standing for the purpose of the Workforce Training Fund Program is valid for 6 months.
  

• I understand that no payments will be made until all conditions set by Commonwealth Corporation and other stated requirements are met. Requirements include, but are not limited to application approval and contract execution.
  

• I understand that training that will be paid for by WTFP funds cannot start without an executed contract.
  

Documentation Required to Apply

In addition to the information provided in this online application, you should provide the following:

• Cover letter (recommended): A cover letter is highly recommended. A concise summary of the proposed project and rationale is recommended. Additionally, if there is any important information that should be considered but doesn’t easily fit elsewhere, it should be included in the cover letter.
• Certificate of Good Standing from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (required): All applicants and consortium partners for Workforce Training Fund grants must provide a valid Certificate of Good Standing from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (not to be confused with a Certificate of Incorporation), issued within the last six months. For more information and to apply for a Certificate of Good Standing, please see the Department of Revenue website.
• Descriptions of Training Modules & Courses (required): In addition to the information entered in the course description page, applicants must provide a syllabus or detailed course outline for the training proposed. The syllabus or training course description should list and describe topics and sub-topics included with the sequence, allotment of time, and relevant information about instructional methodology. Reviewers must receive sufficient information to evaluate whether training is applying best practices, distinguishable from consulting services, reasonably priced, appropriate for proposed trainees, the allowable use of grant funds, and is logically related to the objectives and success metrics proposed. Inadequate course descriptions will result in delays or rejections.

Word or PDF documents are preferred. You may submit individual documents for each course or describe multiple courses in a single, well-organized attachment. Use the following link to view a sample training course description: Sample Course Description Attachment

• Other: You may attach any additional documents you wish to have considered here.
• Union Support Letter (required if union members are included in training): A letter of support, on union letterhead, is required from an officer of each union whose members will be involved in training. This application cannot be considered for funding until such letters are received.
• EEO-1 Report: If you used information from your company’s EEO-1 form (i.e. Equal Employment Opportunity – Employer Information Report EEO-1) (see sample) to complete the “Workforce Race, Ethnicity, and Gender” portion of Section 3, please upload a copy of the report.  For more information about EEO-1 U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), please follow this link to the EEOC website.

Please Note: The two most recently completed years of company Financial Statements may be required.

Additional Requirements for Consortium Applications:

Before a consortium application is considered for funding, each additional consortium partner must provide:

• Certificate of Good Standing from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue that is less than six months old;
• Partner Letter: A letter from a senior manager that includes a commitment to take part if the consortium grant;
• Union Support Letter: A letter of support from union(s), on union letterhead, is required from an officer of each participating union whose members will be involved in training, if applicable to any consortium partners;

Partner Grant History: The date of the company’s most recent previous Workforce Training Fund grant (if any), a description of the training provided in the prior grant, and an explanation of how the training proposed differs from the topic of the previous grant.

Application Form User Guide

The online grant application can be completed using a current version of any one of several popular web browsers including Edge, Chrome, Firefox, or Safari. The application form is not intended to be completed via tablet or mobile devices.

Technical Tips

Enable Pop-Up Windows: You must enable pop-up windows in your web browser for the application to function properly. You will not be able to submit the application without enabling pop-ups. Most browsers will allow you to disable a pop-up blocker on a specific website without doing so for all websites.

Back Button: Using the back button on your web browser will cause data entered, but not yet saved, to be deleted. You should not use the Back button on your web browser to navigate between sections of the application.

Closing Browser Will Delete Unsaved Changes: Closing your web browser without saving changes will result in the loss of any changes made since you last used the Save and Next or Save and Exit button, or moved from one section of the application to another. See below for more information.

Single User Only: If more than one user (or computer) is logged into the same application record at one time, the form will not function correctly. This form is designed for a single user at a time per record. At any time you can generate a pdf of an application in progress by jumping to Section 14: Review and Submit Your Application. The pdf can be saved, printed, or emailed.

Display Limitations: If you are viewing the application in a smaller than a standard window, some elements of the application will not be visible without using a horizontal scrollbar that is located in the form itself, not in the frame of your web browser. For this reason, it’s best to use a vertical display, rather than side-by-side if you are viewing the application and another window simultaneously (e.g. copying and pasting from a word document into our form in a web browser).

Getting Started

To begin, follow the General Program Training Grant Online Application link found on the following web page:

Once you have entered your company’s Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) and a valid email address, you will immediately be sent an email containing an activation link, application ID, and instructions to set a password and begin your application. Please ensure that your spam filter is set to allow emails sent from commcorp.org.

Once it is started you can save your application in progress so you can revisit the application as many times as you wish before submitting a final version. The email received when activating your application will contain your application ID and a link that you can use, along with the password you create, to log in to your application at any time in the future. Please be sure you save the link, your application ID, and your password. Without them, you cannot access your application.

Required Fields

Items designated with a red asterisk (*) are required before you can save the information you have entered in that section. These items are required before you can save the information you have entered in that section. Without these required items, you will not be able to exit the current section or jump to other sections without losing information entered since you last saved your work.

Other required items are designated with a black asterisk (*). These items are required to be completed at the time that your application is submitted. However, you can save your work without these items being completed. At any time prior to submitting your application, you can use the navigation bar on the left to make changes to any section.

Saving, Exiting, Navigating, and Printing

You can leave any page of the application by either using one of the three buttons at the bottom of each page or by jumping to another section by using the blue navigation bar on the left of the screen:

Save and Next: Will save the changes you made since entering that page and take you to the next page of the application.

 

Save and Exit: Will save the changes you made since entering that page and exit the form. You will be required to log in using your application ID and password to access the application after using Save and Exit.

Exit Without Saving Changes: Will exit the form without saving the changes you have made since entering that page. You will be required to log in using your application ID and password to access the application after using Exit Without Saving Changes.

Navigation Bar: By clicking on any other section of the application in the blue navigation bar on the left side of the screen, you will save the changes you made since entering that page and jump to the section selected.

 

 

 

 

 

Printer-Friendly Version: At any time after starting an application, you can review a printer-friendly PDF version of your application by clicking on Section 14: Review and Submit Your Application in the blue navigation on the left of your screen. At the top of page 14 you will find a button that will open a new window containing a PDF of the application that can be saved, emailed, or printed.

Section 1. About Your Organization: General Information

Please provide the information requested. You must provide the Massachusetts address for the company.

Section 2. About Your Organization: Description

Please provide the information requested.

Please indicate if your company is registered in the Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office, Directory of Certified Businesses in any of the following categories:  

• Minority Business Enterprise (MBE)
• Women Business Enterprise (WBE)
• Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE)
• Airport Concession-DBE (ACDBE)
• Portuguese Business Enterprise (PBE)
• Veteran Business Enterprise (VBE)
• Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Enterprise (LGBTBE)
• Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Enterprise (SDVOBE)
• Disability-Owned Business Enterprises (DOBE)

Please note: The Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office, Directory of Certified Businesses includes information about certification by the Supplier Diversity Office as well as other agencies, including:

• Supplier Diversity Office (SDO) – State
• MassDOT Office – UCP
• City of Boston (COB)
• Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC)
• National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC)
• National Gay and Lesbians Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC)
• US Business Leadership Network (USBLN)
• Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VetBiz)

Section 3. About Your Organization: Workforce Information

Please provide the information requested.

Number of Employees: When entering the number of employees, you should include only payroll employees, not contractors or temporary workers that are employed by a staffing firm or any other entity. Grant funds may be used to train only the payroll employees of the applicant who are employed in Massachusetts. (They are not required to live in Massachusetts, but must work in Massachusetts and be included in Massachusetts payroll reporting.) Please also note the following:

• Massachusetts: This should include the total number of employees at all locations throughout Massachusetts, including your parent company and all subsidiaries, if applicable.
• World Wide: This should include the total number of employees at all locations worldwide, including your parent company and all subsidiaries, if applicable.

Workforce Race, Ethnicity, and Gender:

This section is optional but requested. There are two options for completing this section:

• Option A:        EEO-1 Form Data

If your company is required to complete Form EEO-1, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), you may enter the totals from the most recent reporting year from Section D – EMPLOYMENT DATA, line 10: Total in each of the corresponding fields in the grant application.

For more information about EEO-1 requirements, or definitions of race, ethnicity, and gender categories, follow this link to EEO-1 Instructions.

Many companies are required by federal law to complete Form EEO-1 (e.g. companies with over 100 employees, or federal contractors).  If your company has employees outside of Massachusetts, data provided in your company’s Form EEO-1 may pertain to both Massachusetts-based employees and out-of-state employees.  If you use EEO-1 data to complete this section, please indicate if out-of-state employees are included.

Please also upload a copy of your Form EEO-1 in the Attachments section at the end of this application.

• Option B:        Company Data (not from Form EEO-1)

In place of data from Form EEO-1, companies may provide a set of data that pertains to your Massachusetts-based workforce.  To do so, you should use the same methods and definitions as those provided in Section 4. Race, Ethnic, and Sex Identification of EEO-1 Instructions (approximately 2/3 of the way down the page). You should include data for all Massachusetts-based employees at the time of application.  Do not include data for employees outside of Massachusetts.

Section 4. About Your Organization: Primary Contact

Please provide the information requested. The primary contact for this grant application must be an employee of the company applying for a grant. This contact person must work in Massachusetts.

Section 5. About Your Application: Prior Grant Information

Please provide the information requested. If you require any assistance in determining the grant history of your organization, we would be happy to assist you. Please contact the Commonwealth Corporation’s Workforce Training Fund Program at 617-717-6912 or [email protected].

Section 6. About Your Application: Consortium Partners

Is this a Consortium Application? This section gathers information relevant to consortium applications involving a group of employers applying collaboratively. If employees of only one company are being trained, select “No.” If two or more companies are applying in partnership, to address shared training needs, select “Yes.” Consortium applications must include more than one organization whose employees will take part in the training proposed.

Consortium Partners: One organization must be the lead applicant for a consortium grant. Eligible lead applicants include:

• One of the participating companies whose employees will be trained;
• non-profit intermediary organizations with expertise in workforce development and/or industry training needs including a charitable organization with expertise in training, business leagues, industry associations, and chambers of commerce;
• Community Colleges; and
• Labor Organizations.

If approved for a grant, the lead applicant will enter into a contract with Commonwealth Corporation and assume responsibility for grant funds, reporting, and requirements. The designated lead organization may use up to 10% of the total grant to pay administrative costs.

Please note: for our purposes, training providers are not entered as “additional consortium partners.” In section 6 you will enter information about companies whose employees are being trained. Information about training providers being hired to deliver training will be entered in Section 9.

How to Complete a Consortium Application: For consortium applications, information entered in sections 1 through 5 of the application (e.g. organization description, contact info, grant history) pertains to the lead applicant, and information entered in sections 6 through 12 (training plan, training providers, outcomes) pertains to the entire consortium. In section 6, the lead applicant will enter a set of information (e.g. company name, FEIN, contact information, etc.) for each additional partner company. To complete sections 7 through 12, the lead applicant should work with partners to compile relevant information and then enter collective information. For instance, if a consortium exists of three partner companies and is each expecting to add two additional jobs over the next two years, section 11 would indicate that six additional jobs are expected. Whenever possible, the contributions of each partner should be described in a manner in which reviewers can differentiate among partners. It is recommended that the lead applicant includes a cover letter explaining the origins/nature of the partnership, and summarizes contributions and expected impact for each partner company.

All companies whose employees will take part in training must comply with existing eligibility criteria and program guidelines. Before a consortium application is considered for funding, each consortium partner must provide:

• a Certificate of Good Standing from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue that is less than six months old;
• A letter from a senior manager that includes a commitment to take part if the consortium grant;
• A letter of support, on union letterhead, is required from an officer of each participating union whose members will be involved in training, if applicable to any consortium partners;
• The date of the company’s most recent previous Workforce Training Fund grant (if any), a description of the training provided in the prior grant, and an explanation of how the training proposed differs from the topic of the previous grant.

Before submitting an application, these items should be gathered by the lead applicant and uploaded using Section 13: Additional Information: Attachments.

Section 7. Training Plan: Plan Development

Training Plan Summary: In 1,000 characters or less, please provide a brief, summary-level description of your training plan. This concise summary will be used as a short-form depiction of the proposed training activity for public release. You should not include financial, proprietary, or other sensitive information.

Objective: Describe the key business problems or opportunities that you intend to address with training and the types of training required to achieve your goal. Please be specific and provide context to help reviewers understand your business objective. The application will be evaluated by reviews who will consider whether or not the training plan you propose is relevant to the objective and is likely to have the desired impact on the business problems or opportunities described. Please include context such as industry standards, past performance, or other rationales to help reviewers understand the proposed objective of the grant. A vague response without specific information and supporting rationale is not likely to result in a grant. Applicants are discouraged from seeking to address an overly broad set of objectives that are not closely related. Your application should not include any training that does not directly relate to the stated objective.

Section 8. Training Plan: Training Participants

Please provide the information requested.

Cost of Benefits: Expressed as a percent of wages, please approximate the cost of benefits. For the purposes of the program, this should include fringe benefits, health insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, workers’ compensation, and payroll taxes. It should not include overhead costs.

Unduplicated Trainees and Average Wage: The information entered in this section will be used in later sections of the application to calculate key elements of the grant budget. Applicants must be able to substantiate the figures used upon request before, during, or after a grant period.

If there are no trainees in a category group, please enter 0 in that category field.

# Below $22.06 / Hr.:  Please indicate the number of trainees, by category group, earning less than $22.06 per hour.  Workers earning less than $22.06 per hour are considered low-wage workers.  For our purposes, low-wage workers are those workers earning less than half of the average weekly earnings of workers in Massachusetts.  Expressed as an hourly equivalency, those earning below $22.06 are low-wage workers, as of October 3, 2022.

Average Trainee Wage Expense The average wage expense, including benefits will be calculated automatically based on the information entered in the category fields.

Union Trainees: A letter of support, on union letterhead, is required from an officer of each union whose members will be involved in training. Letters of support should be submitted via upload in Section 13: Additional Information: Attachments. This application cannot be considered for funding until such letters are received. If you have members of more than two unions participating in this training, please provide the information requested above for each additional union in your cover letter.

Section 9. Training Providers

Please provide the information requested. In a subsequent section of the application, when entering training courses, you will be required to choose the training provider from a drop-down list that is based on the information entered here.

In the Provider Type fields, please indicate if the trainer is a company employee (i.e. In-house Employee) or a vendor hired to provide training services. Please Note: The use of grant funds to pay for in-house employees is very rare and limited to the actual cost of time spent delivering training. Planning and development time cannot be paid for using grant funds.

Please indicate if your training provider is registered in the Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office, Directory of Certified Businesses in any of the following categories:

• Minority Business Enterprise (MBE)
• Women Business Enterprise (WBE)
• Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE)
• Airport Concession-DBE (ACDBE)
• Portuguese Business Enterprise (PBE)
• Veteran Business Enterprise (VBE)
• Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Enterprise (LGBTBE)
• Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Enterprise (SDVOBE)
• Disability-Owned Business Enterprises (DOBE)

 If the training provider is registered in the Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office, Directory of Certified Businesses please indicate whether the training provider is a for-profit or non-profit organization, and indicate which type(s) of certification applies to the provider.

If you are planning to use more than one training provider, you can expand this page by using the Add Another Provider button:

Section 10: Budget and Training Plan Outline

In section 10 you will outline the proposed training plan. Please review the Modules and Courses explanation below to understand the use of these terms and how to organize your training plan. Section 10 includes three parts:

1. 1. Budget and Training Plan Outline lists all of the proposed training and the total budget;
   2. Training Module describes the objective and performance metrics for training Modules; and
   3. Course Description describes each specific course including a budget for the course.

Terminology: Modules and Courses:

For the purpose of this application, the term Module describes a series of courses with a common objective or focus. A module could have one course or several. The term Course is used to describe training on a specific topic. For example, Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Access training would be considered courses grouped together in a module called Software Training. The following graphic shows how training courses could be organized into modules.

You will complete one Training Module page for each module and one Course Description page for each course.

Entering Modules & Courses:

First, you must use the first page of section 10, titled Budget and Training Plan Outline to list Modules and the course(s) you wish to include. The first time you navigate to the Budget and Training Plan Outline page, Module 1 and Course 1.1 will be visible and you will be prompted to name them. After naming them, you can add additional modules and courses to complete your training plan by clicking the Add Another Module and Add Course buttons.

After listing modules and courses, save the page by clicking “Save and Next” or by jumping to another section using the navigation bar. The example from the module and course graphic above will look as follows once entered and saved:

Navigating Modules & Courses:

After entering a training plan, you can use the navigation bar on the left of the screen to jump to the Modules or Courses that you entered. To navigate to a course click the so-called “hamburger” icon ( ) next to the associated module to expand the list of courses for that module, then click the course name to jump to it.

Note: Alternatively, you can navigate to any Module or Course from the first page of section 10, titled Budget and Training Plan Outline.

Edit, Add, or Delete Modules & Courses:

To edit a module or course, navigate to the Module or Course page, edit the page, and save the changes using the buttons at the bottom of the page.

To add or delete a Module or Course, go to the first page of section 10, titled Budget and Training Plan Outline. Modules and courses can be deleted by clicking the associated “Delete Module” or “Delete Course” links. This will delete the associated module or course pages and cannot be undone.

Training Module Description:

Module Name: This will pre-populate from what was entered on the Module and Course Outline. Changing the name of the module here will change it on the Module and Course Outline, as well.

Training Subject: Choose the training subject category that most closely matches the training in the module. Below please view types of training with examples for each category.

Module Objective: Describe how the training in this module will contribute to addressing the business needs and/or opportunities identified in Section 7: Plan Development. Why are the courses in this module being proposed? How does this module relate to the business needs, opportunities, and/or goals of the application?

Key Performance Indicators: How will you measure the success of the courses in this module? What are some specific business impact metrics your company will use to analyze performance over the two-year grant period? Include current (baseline) measurements for each metric as well as end goals. (e.g., “Increase new product sales by 10% from $250,000 per year to $275,000 per year.”)

Total Budget for this Module: As you enter budget information for your courses, the budget for this module will tally here. Return to this page at any time to see the current budget for this module. Trainee Wages under Grant Funds Requested will show as “-*” because the cost of trainee wages cannot be funded by the grant. All trainee wages for a time in training should be counted toward the match. View the total budget for the entire application by clicking the “Show Budget Summary” button at the top of the page.

Course Description:

Name of Module: This will pre-populate from what was entered on the Module and Course Outline. To edit the training course name, return to the Module and Course Outline.

Who is providing this training?: This will pre-populate from what was entered on the Module and Course Outline. To change the training provider, return to the Module and Course Outline. If the training provider has not been added to the Training Providers page, return to page 9: Training Providers to add the training provider. Then, return to the Module and Course Outline to choose the training provider from the picklist.

Course Number: Course numbers correspond with each course’s place in the module and course outline. The first number denotes the module and the second number denotes the course number within that module (e.g., course 1.3 is course number 3 in module number 1).

Course Title: This will pre-populate from what was entered on the Module and Course Outline. Changing the name of the module here will change it on the Module and Course Outline, as well.

Please check all of the following that apply: Please check as many boxes as apply to your course. Below please find definitions of these descriptors.

• Group Training: Multiple trainees will participate in the training together
• On-the-Job Training (while performing work duties): Training will be delivered while trainees are performing their work duties
• On-Site at Company: Training will be delivered at a company worksite, not at the training provider’s location
• Public Training/Seminar: Training is a class or seminar that is available to the public, and may have non-grant-funded trainees from other companies participating
• In-Person Instructor: The training instructor will be delivering training content in-person
• Self-Directed Training (Online or otherwise): Training content is self-paced and not delivered by an instructor
• Classroom Training: Training will be delivered in a classroom setting
• One-on-One Training: Training will be delivered to trainees individually, not in a group setting
• Off-Site Location: Training will take place somewhere other than a company worksite (e.g., the training provider’s location)
• Private Training (applicant company(ies) only): Training will be delivered to grant recipient company(ies) solely, and is not open to the public
• Remote Instructor (web/phone conferenced): Training will be instructor-led with an instructor located somewhere other than the trainees’ location

Hours of training to complete the course once: How many hours of training must take place for a trainee to complete the course? If the course will be repeated to train multiple cohorts or groups of trainees at different times, enter only the amount of time for the course to be completed once. Do not include any repetition of training. (e.g., if the course takes 16 hours to complete once and will be held 3 times to include all trainees, enter “16” here).

All trainees included are expected to participate in all of the training described. If sub-groups of trainees are expected to take place in more training than others, you should divide training into two courses: One that includes the hours expected to be complete by all trainees participating in the course(s), and the second that describes the group that will take part in additional training hours and describes the additional training.

For example, ten clerks and two managers participating in 6 hours of “Customer Service” training, plus the two managers participating in 3 additional hours of “Managing Customer Service” should not be portrayed as twelve workers who are all participating in 9 hours of training.

The number of times this course will be held to train all the participants listed below: How many times will the complete course be held to train all of the trainees? Provide the number of times the course will be delivered to train all of the planned cohorts or groups, not the number of sessions/meetings required to deliver the course once.

Total hours of instruction: This field will calculate automatically, multiplying the hours of training to complete the course once by the number of times the course will be held.

Example: A course takes 12 instructional hours to complete. The course is provided to cohort 1 of 2 in the spring (i.e. held during three, 4-hour meetings) and provided to cohort 2 of 2 in the fall will also receive 12 hours of instruction (i.e. three, 4-hour meetings), the following should be reflected in your application:

Hours of training to complete the course once: 12

Number of times this course will be held to train all the participants listed below: 2

Total hours of instruction: 24

Please Note: In addition to the information entered on the course description page, applicants must provide a syllabus or detailed course outline for the training proposed. The syllabus or training course description should list and describe topics and sub-topics included with the sequence, allotment of time, and relevant information about instructional methodology. Reviewers must receive sufficient information to evaluate whether training is applying best practices, distinguishable from consulting services, reasonably priced, appropriate for proposed trainees, the allowable use of grant funds, and is logically related to the objectives and success metrics proposed. Inadequate course descriptions will result in delays or rejections.

Course descriptions should be attached using Section 13. Additional Information: Attachments. Word or PDF documents are preferred. You may submit individual documents for each course or describe multiple courses in a single, well-organized attachment. Use the following link to view a sample training course description: Sample Course Description Attachment

Course Budget

For each course you propose in the application, you must enter a budget using the instructions provided below. These course budgets should include funds requested and matching funds for all repetitions of the course described in this page of the application. In other words, if a course is expected to be repeated to accommodate multiple groups of trainees, you should provide the combined costs of all repetitions in the course budget.

Grant Funds Line Items

• Grant Funds Requested: This is where you will enter your grant-funded budget information for each course. Enter the total amount for each expense category under “Amount.” Values entered here will tally in the module budget and total budget. Describe what was calculated to derive those amounts in the fields under “Explanation.”
• Cost of Instruction: How much will the training instruction cost for this course? This item may include the cost of third-party training vendor(s) to deliver training, not including the cost of travel, course development, materials, or certification exams. Costs to deliver training should be calculated based on the vendor’s rate structure, such as cost per person, cost per hour, day, or session, or a flat fee schedule. Only the cost of delivering instruction should be included as grant funds. Costs for preparation, assessment, or consultation may be entered as matching expenses only. Materials provided by training providers at an additional cost, such as training modules or workbooks, should be listed in the Course Materials line item. See the example below:

• Course Materials: Course materials included should be directly related to the delivery of training (e.g., a training manual or workbook, video, or software needed for use in the grant-funded training). Explanation of costs should identify the article, cost per article, and the number of articles. (e.g., Intro to Lean workbook: 12 workbooks @ $10 per workbook = $120). Other examples include consumables, such as stationery, classroom supplies, and items required for training practicum, such as gloves for medical assistant training. Although course materials are typically a matching expense, applicants may choose to request grant funds.

Please note: The use of grant funds for expenses other than the cost of instruction is limited to 20% of the total grant funds and a reasonable cost rationale must be provided.

• Grant Management: (Consortium Applications Only) In a consortium application involving multiple partners, grant funds may cover a portion of the administrative costs (not to exceed 10% of the total grant).

• Other: There are very few cases in which other expenses could be covered by grant funds. In ESOL training, we will consider the use of grant funds to pay for the cost of English language proficiency assessment before and during training.

Please note: The use of grant funds for expenses other than the cost of instruction is limited to 20% of the total grant funds and a reasonable cost rationale must be provided.

Total Funds Requested: This field will calculate automatically, adding up all of the above amounts. This represents the total amount that you are requesting for this course.

Cost to Grant per Hour of Training: This field will calculate automatically, dividing the total funds requested by the total hours of instruction.

Matching Funds

This is where you will enter your match budget information for each course. Enter the total amount for each expense category under “Amount.” Values entered here will tally in the module budget and total budget. Describe what was calculated to derive those amounts in the fields under “Explanation.”

Grants funds requested must be matched dollar-for-dollar by grant recipients. The matching requirement takes into account training-related expenses such as the cost of wages and fringe of trainees during training hours. Typically, grant funds pay for training provider(s) fees and the cost of wages and fringe of employees during training hours is sufficient to meet matching requirements. The matching fund must be incurred as a direct result of delivering training and must take place during the grant. Planning and development costs and pre-existing overhead should not be included.

Applications may include individual courses that do not meet a $1 to $1 matching ratio as long as the total application meets a $1 to $1 ratio.

Course Participants: Group the projected trainees for the course into the following job categories:

• Managers & Executives
• Professional & Technical
• Sales & Marketing
• Production/Construction
• Service
• Administrative Support & Clerical

The following information should be included for each category group:

1. Number of Participants: How many trainees from this category will be participating in training?
2. Number of Training Hours: Automatically drawn from the hours of training to complete the course once, entered above
3. Average Hourly Wage: Average pre-tax employee wage/salary in this category. Do not include fringe benefits.
4. Cost of Fringe Benefits (%): Automatically drawn from the Cost of Fringe Benefits (%) entered above
5. Total Wage Match (Including Benefits): The total labor cost for this job category in this training. This will calculate automatically from the information entered in the rest of the table (Number of participants x Number of Training Hours x Average Hourly Wage)

Match Budget Line Items

• Total Trainee Wage Match: This field is automatically calculated based on the number of participants and the average wages entered previously.
• Cost of Instruction: If the applicant is contributing part of the cost of instruction in addition to the grant-funded instruction costs, record the amount that the applicant will be contributing here. Costs to deliver training should be calculated based on the vendor’s rate structure, such as cost per person, cost per hour, day, or session, or a flat fee schedule. Please make the portion being contributed as a match clear. See the example below:

• Course Materials: Course materials included should be directly related to the delivery of training (e.g., a training manual or workbook, video, or software needed for use in the grant-funded training). Explanation of costs should identify the article, cost per article, and the number of articles. (e.g., Intro to Lean workbook: 12 workbooks @ $10 per workbook = $120). Other examples include consumables, such as stationery, classroom supplies, and items required for training practicum, such as gloves for medical assistant training. Course materials are typically a matching expense.
• Grant Management: A reasonable amount of wages for management and administration of the training grant program can be counted toward the matching expenses. This amount should be based on time estimates, not a percentage of wage. A general guideline is to plan on up to 2 hours per week for the life of the training project, depending on the complexity of the project. (e.g., 1 manager x 2 hours per week x 104 weeks x ($35 per hour + fringe benefits @ 35%) = $9,828.00). Please note that the cost of benefits entered for the Course Participants table will not automatically calculate in this field. It is acceptable to calculate the grant management cost for the entire grant project on one course page, so long as there is no duplication of expenses on other course pages.
• Other: This item may include other expenses to be paid by the company that is directly related to the delivery of grant-funded instruction. Such expenses may include but are not limited to, the cost to rent training space offsite, travel, lodging, meals for trainers of trainees, or refreshments provided during training.

Total Matching Funds: This field will calculate automatically, adding up all of the above amounts. This represents the total matching funds associated with this course.

Budget Summary

At the top of each page in section 10, you can access the budget summary that includes totals for all of the expenses you have entered. By clicking the Show Budget Summary button, you can open a new window that can be refreshed to show changes to the total application budget as you add or revise the budgets of individual courses.

Section 11. Planned Outcomes: Job Creation

Please indicate if the company expects to add employees in Massachusetts over the next two years. This question is addressing net changes in the number of employees in Massachusetts. You should explain the rationale on which you base your expectations and explain the impact of a training grant on growth. If you expect to add jobs, please estimate the number of jobs to be added and expected wages. If a training grant is expected to preserve jobs that would otherwise be eliminated, please explain and describe the jobs that would be eliminated. Specific information about expectations should be provided by applicants who wish to appeal to selection criteria relating to job growth or preservation.

Section 12. Planned Outcomes: Wage Impact

Please provide the information requested.

Section 13. Additional Information: Attachments

In section 13 you will attach supporting documentation required to complete the application:

• Cover letter (recommended): A cover letter is highly recommended. A concise summary of the proposed project and rationale is recommended. Additionally, if there is any important information that should be considered but doesn’t easily fit elsewhere, it should be included in the cover letter.
• Certificate of Good Standing from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (required): All applicants and consortium partners for Workforce Training Fund grants must provide a valid Certificate of Good Standing from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (not to be confused with a Certificate of Incorporation), issued within the last six months. For more information and to apply for a Certificate of Good Standing, please see the Department of Revenue website (see
• Descriptions of Training Modules & Courses (required): In addition to the information entered in the course description page, applicants must provide a syllabus or detailed course outline for the training proposed. The syllabus or training course description should list and describe topics and sub-topics included with the sequence, allotment of time, and relevant information about instructional methodology. Reviewers must receive sufficient information to evaluate whether training is applying best practices, distinguishable from consulting services, reasonably priced, appropriate for proposed trainees, allowable use of grant funds, and is logically related to the objectives and success metrics proposed. Inadequate course descriptions will result in delays or rejections.

Word or PDF documents are preferred. You may submit individual documents for each course or describe multiple courses in a single, well-organized attachment. Use the following link to view a sample training course description: Sample Course Description Attachment

• Other: You may attach any additional documents you wish to have considered here.
• Union Support Letter (required if union members are included in training): A letter of support, on union letterhead, is required from an officer of each union whose members will be involved in training. This application cannot be considered for funding until such letters are received.
  
• EEO-1 Report:  If you used information from your company’s EEO-1 form (i.e. Equal Employment Opportunity – Employer Information Report EEO-1) (see sample) to complete the “Workforce Race, Ethnicity, and Gender” portion of Section 3, please upload a copy of the report.  For more information about EEO-1 U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), please follow this link to the EEOC website.

Additional Requirements for Consortium Applications: Before a consortium application is considered for funding, each additional consortium partner must provide:

• Certificate of Good Standing from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue that less than six months old;
• Partner Letter: A letter from a senior manager that includes a commitment to take part if the consortium grant;
• Union Support Letter: A letter of support from union(s), on union letterhead, is required from an officer of each participating union whose members will be involved in training, if applicable to any consortium partners;
• Partner Grant History: The date of the company’s most recent previous Workforce Training Fund grant (if any), a description of the training provided in the prior grant, and an explanation of how the training proposed differs from the topic of the previous grant.

Before submitting an application, these items should be gathered by the lead applicant and uploaded using Section 13: Additional Information: Attachments.

Use the Upload buttons to select and attach documents.

Use the Add / Edit File Descriptions button to describe the documents attached.

Section 14: Review and Submit Your Application

Review Your Application

You can visit Section 14: Review and Submit Your Application at any time to view the entire application while it is in development.

Required fields that are incomplete are highlighted in red throughout Section 14: Review Your Application. You cannot add missing information in the review page. You must return to the relevant section to do so. By using the “click here to add additional information to this section” link in the upper right corner of each section, you can jump to the page where missing information can be added.

Printer-Friendly Version: At any time after starting an application, you can review a printer-friendly PDF version of your application by clicking on Section 14: Review and Submit Your Application in the blue navigation on the left of your screen. At the top of page 14 you will find a button that will open a new window containing a PDF of the application that can be saved, emailed, or printed.

Submit Your Application

Until all the required information is provided, you cannot authorize and submit an application. Once an application is complete, an option will appear at the bottom of Section 14: Review and Submit Your Application that may be used to submit the application. To do so, it must be certified by an authorized by the company president, CEO, COO, CFO, or another senior manager who is authorized to agree to all program stipulations.

After Submitting Your Application

Once your application is authorized and submitted, you will automatically receive an email verifying that it has been received. If you do not get a confirmation via email, it has not been received. In such a case, please contact us at (617) 717-6912 or [email protected].

After submitting the application you can view the submitted application by logging in. However, you will not be able to edit the application after it has been submitted.

Award decisions are expected within 60 days of submitting a complete application. Applicants will be notified of the decision via email to the contract provided. If an application is not approved, review findings will be provided in writing and eligible applicants may resubmit a revised application at any time.