Workforce Incentives & Other Programs

For more information on any program, contact EDC Warren County at 518.761.6007.

On The Job (OJT) Training Program

Eligible Entity:  Businesses (private sector, for-profits and not-for-profits) and/or intermediaries that represent a business membership (Chamber of Commerce or labor/trade organizations)

Details:  Up to $50,000 in On-the-Job Training funds are available to employers who hire long term unemployed workers.  The hiring business must be offering a full-time (35 hours/week or more) job opportunity paying a minimum of $10.00 per hour; willing to assure that the newly hired employee remain employed with the business upon completion of the OJT, that OJT will take place during the newly hired employee’s work hours and employee will be compensated at no less than their normal rate of pay and that no currently employed worker shall be displaced by the newly hired OJT employee.

Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)

Eligible Entity: New York State private sector businesses

Details:   The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is designed to promote the hiring of individuals who qualify as a member of a target group; individuals with barriers to employment.

Federal tax credits are available for hiring the following groups under WOTC:

• Qualified recipient of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Is any individual who is a member of a family receiving TANF, for any 9 months during the last 18 months ending on the hire date, or Is a member of the family specifically listed on the grant as shown through the Department of Social Services
• Qualified Veterans Has been convicted of a felony under any statute of the United States or any state and Has a hiring date, which is not more than one year after the later of the date on which he/ she was so convicted or on which he/she was released from prison.
• Designated Community Residents ages 18 through 39 Is at least age 18, but not yet age 40, on the hiring date, and Has his/her principal residence within a federal designated community (Empowerment Zone or Rural Renewal County). In New York State, Montgomery and Clinton counties have been designated as “Rural Renewal Counties.”
• Qualified Vocational Rehabilitation Referral Is a person certified by a designated agency as having a physical or mental disability which, for that individual, constitutes or results in a substantial barrier to employment, and Was referred to the employer upon, or at any time after completing, or while receiving rehabilitation services pursuant to an individualized written plan for employment approved by one of the following organizations:
  • Performs a service for the employer between May 1 and September 15 of the respective tax year, and
  • Has attained the age of 16, but not yet age 18, on the hiring date, and
  • Has not been employed by the same employer prior to the 90 day (summer) period between May 1 and September 15 of the respective tax year, and
  • Has her/his place of living with in a federal designated community (Empowerment Zone). In the case of a Summer Youth, the phrase “qualified wages” includes wages paid or incurred for services performed while he/ she lived within the zone.
• Qualified Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipient ages 18-39 Has attained the age of 18, but not yet age 40, on the hiring date, and Is a member of a family receiving assistance under a Food Stamp Program (SNAP) through the Food Stamp Act of 1977 for a 6 consecutive month period ending on the hire date, or Has received such assistance for at least three of the 5 months before date of hire, and whose food stamp eligibility has expired.
• Has received or is receiving Supplemental Security income benefits under Title XVI of the Social Security Act (including benefits of the type described in Section 1616 of the Social Security Act or Section 212 of Public Law 93-66) for at least one day in any month within the 60-day period ending on the hiring date.
• Long-Term Family Assistance (LTFA) – WOTC

Microenterprise Assistance Program

Eligible Entity: Small Business Owners in both Warren & Washington Counties

Details: This 8 week course is open to all Washington and Warren County prospective entrepreneurs as well as existing small businesses (with ten or fewer employees). The program provides attendees with the resources to build or re-structure an effective business plan and covers other critical topics such as advertising, budgeting and bookkeeping, and legal issues, insurance requirements, taxes, permits, and financing strategies.