Economic Development Programs
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Iowa Industrial New Jobs Training Program (260E)
This program — which supports businesses that are creating new jobs or relocating
to Iowa — works to build skills of new employees and allow them to achieve higher
levels of productivity. The program pays for direct training costs, reimburses companies for up to 50% of trainee salaries,
and offers a corporate income tax credit.
The New Jobs Training Program will:
- Reimburse the company for up to 50 percent of trainees' salaries while they are learning on the job.
- Enable the company to contract for training with the college, or other contracted services.
- Cover 100 percent of direct training costs such as:
- Instructional development, prescreening and assessment costs
- Instructor salaries, travel and housing, even if they are in-house trainers
- Training facilities, equipment, materials and supplies
In addition to training funds, companies that participate in the program and increase their employment by 10 percent, qualify for a corporate income tax credit equal to 6 percent of the taxable wage base of the state unemployment compensation rate for each new job created.
To generate the training reimbursement funds, the college sells bond certificates to investors. The purchasing of these bond certificates by investors creates the pool of funds from which the college can reimburse a company’s training costs. In short, the investors loan the college the funds.
The payback of the bond certificates/loan is made by using the company’s Iowa employee withholding taxes. The program allows a company to divert a portion of the Iowa new employees’ withholding taxes over to the college. The college then uses these funds to make the bond/loan payments each year for 10 years.
To promote the creation of high-quality jobs within Iowa, a supplemental withholding tax credit may be calculated for new positions with wage levels meeting or exceeding established criteria. This extended funding source allows for an additional portion of the new employees’ payroll withholding taxes to be applied to the project, increasing the potential training funds available.
Because of this structure, the training is available at what is essentially no cost since the bonds are repaid with dollars that otherwise would have been paid to the state as withholding taxes.
Iowa companies that are creating new jobs and are engaged in manufacturing, processing, assembling products, warehousing, wholesaling, or conducting research and development are eligible to participate in the program. Businesses engaged in the provision of services that have customers outside of Iowa may also be eligible.
See the roadmap to your 260E program
Iowa Jobs Training Program (260F)
This program provides state-funded forgivable loans or grants to Iowa businesses for
the training and development of existing employees. EICC works with each business to determine their eligibility and assist them with the application process.
Available training funds vary based on business need and are awarded through an application
process.
Eastern Iowa Community Colleges works one-on-one with businesses to review eligibility and provide assistance with completing the application process. Businesses receiving an award of $5,000 or greater will contribute a cash match based upon the total training cost.
Businesses eligible to participate in this program must be located in Iowa and engaged in interstate or intrastate commerce for the purpose of:
- Manufacturing, processing, assembling products, warehousing, wholesaling
- Conducting research and development.
- Biotechnology, renewable energy or information technology
- Providing services in interstate commerce
See the Guidelines for you 260F program
Questions?
Request more information about Economic Development Programs