WORKFORCE West Virginia provides a wide range of financial and technical assistance to an employer or a group of employers. It effectively coordinates all available and federal training resources by coordinating the efforts of state agencies and local organizations.

WORKFORCE West Virginia's professionals can help employers with a free, detailed analysis of labor availability; recruitment, assessment, evaluation and candidate screening based on employer criteria; and customized training to meet employers' needs, specifically through:

• Training design
• Pre-employment training
• Job profiling
• Quality development
• Technical training
• Multi-media
• Structured on-the-job training
• Train-the-trainer
• Instructor wages
• Leadership training

Training can be conducted by community and technical colleges, technical education centers or employer-selected trainers. Overall funding levels will be based on the wages and benefits, location, and the number of net new jobs created.

WORKFORCE West Virginia centers in seven regions throughout the state provide employers with information about the labor market; free employee recruitment, assessment and evaluation; and candidate screening based on employer-based criteria.

WORKFORCE West Virginia administers the following workforce training programs.

Competitive Improvement Program: The program targets small (50 or fewer employees) and medium (under 500 employees) sized manufacturers. Grants, capped at $1,000 per trainee, require a 50 percent cash contribution by each employer and require employers to document an in-kind contribution (usually wages paid to employees while being trained) toward the project.

Governor's Guaranteed Work Force Program: The program offers training grants up to $2,000 per employee for eligible companies that create a minimum of 10 new jobs within a 12-month period. It provides the following services:

• Employee recruitment
• Pre-employment assessment
• High performance workplace development
• Structured on-the-job training and development
• Workplace education

Small Business Work Force Program: The program, part of the West Virginia Small Business Development Center system, reimburses the costs of pre-approved technology and technology training for eligible small businesses. The program can provide up to $5,000 in grants designed to enhance competitiveness and expand markets, and up to $10,000 in grants for technology businesses. To be eligible, companies must be for-profit, have 50 or fewer employees, have been in operation for at least one year, have less than $2.5 million in revenues ($3.5 million for technology businesses) and be in good standing with state taxing authorities.

Workforce Development Initiative Program: The program encourages working partnerships between educational institutions and the business community. To qualify, community and technical colleges must establish their own revolving fund dedicated to work force development initiatives. The program requires a one-to-one match from the private sector.

You may want to begin filling your hiring needs right now, free.

• Manage your entire hiring process on-line 24/7
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• Gain maximum exposure for your jobs
• Get quick access to current economic data
• Track potential candidates that are referred to your job openings

WORKFORCE West Virginia
112 California Ave., Bldg. 4
Charleston, West Virginia 25305-0311
(304) 558-7024 or (877) 967-5498
Fax: (304) 558-3512