WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT TRAINING FUND PROGRAM
Grants for New Positions
Business Training Grants for New Positions can provide between $1,000 and a maximum of $4,000 per trainee per fiscal year, depending on the employee's full-time status and wage amount. Grants for New Positions were developed to assist Wyoming businesses in two ways:
Wyoming Business Expansion
One of the most prohibitive issues facing a company trying to expand their services and workforce is the overwhelming cost associated with hiring and training a workforce during the start-up phase of the expansion.
The Workforce Development Training Fund can help a growing Wyoming business by deferring much of the business's training costs during the expansion phase.
New Business Recruitment
The Workforce Development Training Fund is a tool for the Department of Workforce Services to partner with Wyoming's economic development entities in recruitment of new businesses to our state. During the site selection phase of the business recruitment process, all of the benefits of choosing Wyoming over another state become crucial.
The Department of Workforce Services works with our economic development partners to ensure that a business considering Wyoming as a place of operation will know how the Workforce Training Fund can help create a successful start-up by deferring much of the business's training costs.
Frequently Asked Questions
- All businesses must be registered with unemployment Insurance and Workers' Compensation to receive a good standing. Please fill out the joint registration form.
- The application must be submitted on the WDTF online application form.
- Applications must request funding for only one training event per application.
- There is no limit to the number of applications a business may submit.
- Applications will only be accepted:
- Up to 110 days before the scheduled training date; and
- No less than 30 days before the scheduled training date. (To assist with the calculation for this requirement, please use the date calculator below.)
- A proposed curriculum for the training and copies of any brochures, information, etc. describing the training must be included with the application.
- In order to receive disbursements (payments) from the State of Wyoming, the business must be established as a vendor with the State Auditor's Office (SAO). If not already enrolled, please submit a Wyoming On-Line Financial System (WOLFS) Form 109. The Workforce Development Training Fund strongly recommends that all businesses elect the EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) option on the WOLFS-109.
Date Calculator
Use our
Application Due Date Calculator to determine when you must submit your application.
- Help in filling out the application is available by contacting one of our WDTF staff at 307-777-8650.
- Assistance is also available free of charge through local representatives of the following organizations and entities:
- The Department of Workforce Services Workforce Centers;
- Economic Development Associations;
- Wyoming Business Council;
- Wyoming Community College Workforce Coordinators;
- Chambers of Commerce; and
- Small Business Development Centers.
- Please see our Forms and Documents Section.
Grants for New Positions are used to help:
- Attract a new business to Wyoming as part of an economic development initiative; or
- Assist in training employees of a Wyoming business which is expanding its workforce.
Grants for New Positions offer:
- A higher funding limit per trainee for jobs that pay higher wages;
- Fewer restrictions on eligible training; and
- Fewer restrictions on allowable costs.
- For each state fiscal year, a trainee may only receive the following:
- $1,000 per trainee working less than 35 hours per week.
- $2,000 per trainee working 35 or more hours per week.
- $4,000 per trainee whose wages are equal to or greater than the mean hourly wage by county, as determined by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Current mean wages may be found at http://doe.state.wy.us/lmi. Scroll the page for "Occupations, Earnings and Wages", then "County and Regional Wages". Choose the county where the business is located; then choose "Total all occupations," and use the "Mean Wage" category to determine if the trainee is eligible for funding at the $4,000 level.
- Applications must include a signed certifying statement from the business that the position was created within the past 180 days prior to the application's postmark date, and that the position constitutes a net increase in positions for the business.
- Applications will only be accepted for a minimum grant amount of $300.
- Applications or combinations of applications for the same business which total $25,000 or more must have the concurrence of the local or regional Wyoming Business Council representative and the local Economic Development entity to be approved.
- No funding will be granted on a retroactive basis.
- The application must be approved and a contract must be signed and dated by the business prior to the business training start date.
The following businesses are eligible to apply:
- All businesses that are registered with the Wyoming Secretary of State to conduct business in Wyoming;
- Wyoming sole proprietorships;
- Wyoming partnerships; and
- Wyoming County hospitals
Businesses must also be registered and in good standing with the following:
- Wyoming Unemployment Insurance;
- Wyoming Workers' Compensation;
- Wyoming Secretary of State; and
- Workforce Development Training Fund.
To be in good standing with Workforce Development Training Fund, the business must:
- Submit a final report for each Business Training Grant received; and
- Repay any money owed to the program.
Trainees must be working in Wyoming at least 50% of the time for the eligible business applying for the training grant.
What kind of training will be approved for a grant?
In order for training to be approved, the business must demonstrate there is a direct relationship between the training and the trainee's occupation or craft.
What expenses will the grant cover?
The following are allowable training expenses:
- Trainee's wages;
- Tuition, registration, class fees and class materials;
- Travel expenses including transportation, lodging and meals;
- Instructor fees and travel expenses; and
- Fees for continuing education units and certifications that may be obtained during the training.
The following are not allowable training expenses:
- Trainees' fringe benefits;
- Administration expenses;
- Instructor wages where the instructor is an employee of the business;
- Purchased, rented, or leased equipment;
- Assessments, testing, and certification exams that are not included in the training;
- Capital construction of any kind; and/or
- Cost of preparing the grant application.
The application must be approved and a contract must be signed and dated by all parties, including the business, prior to the training start date.
- The business will initially receive 75% of the total grant award. This initial payment request will be forwarded to the State Auditor's Office for disbursement within one week after the signed and dated contract has been approved by the Department of Workforce Services.
- The remaining 25% is retained until the Department of Workforce Services receives and processes the final report, ninety (90) days after the completion of the training.
- Businesses applying for a Business Training Grant for the first time must complete the State Auditor's Wyoming On-line Financial System (WOLFS) Taxpayer Identification & Certification (WOLFS-109) form electing payment by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). The Workforce Development Training Fund strongly recommends that all businesses elect the EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) option on the WOLFS-109
- The Department of Workforce Services will send a letter to the business 90 days after the training has been completed requesting a final report.
- The final report must include:
- A summary report of the results of the training program;
- A copy of the agenda or registration form for the training;
- A payroll record listing the name(s), last four (4) digits of the trainee(s) social security number(s) and hourly wages of the employee(s) trained for a pay period ninety (90) days after the training has been completed;
- Invoices or receipts for allowable expenses, including travel and registration; and
- Documentation from the trainer stating who was trained.
- Adjustment to the final payment will be made if actual expenses were lower than the amount awarded.
- The business must repay the entire grant if the final report is not submitted within 135 days after the training is completed.
- The amount retained by the Department of Workforce Services will be remitted to the business if the trainee:
- Has completed the training; and
- Has been retained in employment with the business for ninety (90) days after the date of completion of the training.
- When the trainee has not completed the training or is not retained in employment with the business for ninety (90) days after completion of the training:
- The amount retained relating to the trainee will not be remitted to the business; and
- The business will repay the 75% of the grant award relating to the trainee.
Please log on to the business account with the Workforce Development Training Fund and send a message through that account requesting an amendment. Remember that amendments may be granted once to change the end date of training, so it is imperative that the return travel date (if necessary) is included in the request. Additionally, please provide a brief, one sentence explanation as to why the training end date has changed.
