Accelerated Career Education (260G)
Partnerships for an Educated Workforce
The Accelerated Career Education (ACE) program is designed to provide businesses with an enhanced skilled workforce. This innovative program assists Iowa's community colleges to either establish or expand programs that train individuals in the occupations most needed by Iowa businesses.
The program consists of two different parts: ACE dollars to fund the necessary infrastructure construction/rehabilitation needed to increase student capacity in the new or expanded classes. Program job credits to help fund the additional program costs associated with establishing a new or expanding a current program.
To participate in ACE, businesses enter into an agreement with a community college to sponsor a portion or all of the positions created by the establishment or expansion of a current educational program. By sponsoring open positions in a program, a company agrees to consider the student for employment upon the completion of their respective training program. Businesses must assist with program design and provide a 20 percent match of the program costs, pro-rated by the percentage of positions sponsored.
Business Eligibility Requirements:
Eligible businesses will be engaged in interstate or intrastate commerce for the purpose of:
- manufacturing, processing or assembling products
- construction
- conduct research and development
- provide services in interstate or intrastate commerce
Businesses that enter into an agreement with an Iowa community college offset the costs of the program through tax benefits. These are contingent upon the number of program job credits a company accrues and are awarded based upon the number of seats they sponsor in a program. Credits can be up to 10 percent of the hiring wage (minimum wage being 200 percent of the federal poverty guideline for a family of two) that a sponsoring business would pay to an individual that completes the programs' requirements. Job credits are a diversion of a company's current state of Iowa personal income withholding tax and are paid to the community college over the life of an agreement usually five years.
For more information on how your business can benefit from ACE, contact your local community college or the IDED at 515.242.4867.
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