Customized Training Grant Program

About the Program

The right trainings can help your bottom line, reduce employee turnover, improve morale, promote an efficient and productive workforce, and increase your competitiveness in the marketplace. The NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) provides federally funded grants to help NYC-based businesses train and retain their employees.

How It Works

Businesses identify problems they are facing and select trainings that will help them solve for problems. The NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) reimburses up to 60 percent of the total training costs in one or more of the following areas:

1. Learning how to use recently purchased equipment or software
2. Offering new services/products to reach new markets
3. Providing new skills to help current staff advance into hard-to-fill positions
4. Updating outdated skills to help the business be more competitive

Program Overview

• Grants range from $30,000-$400,000.
• Businesses must be based in NYC, for-profit, and operating for more than one year.
• Businesses must train at least 10 employees.*
• Businesses pay for training costs up front and get reimbursed on a quarterly basis.
• Employees can take different trainings.
• Employees have one year to complete training.
• Upon completion of training, businesses must provide wage increases.

*Businesses with less than 10 employees can apply jointly as a consortium to meet the trainee requirement. Please contact us for more information on applying as a consortium.

For additional information, review our Program Guidelines (PDF) and Frequently Asked Questions (PDF).

How To Apply

1. Submit a pre-application (also known as the eligibility checklist) to determine if your business is eligible. This should take approximately 3-5 minutes.
2. Someone from the Customized Training team will schedule a screening call to review your pre-application, discuss eligibility, and learn more about business challenge and training needs.
3. Submit a final application, provided by the Customized Training team, prior to one of the following deadlines.

SBS staff will notify you about the status of your application within one week after its board meeting. If you have any questions, please contact our staff.

Learn more about the Customized Training program and next steps at an upcoming webinar.

Training Examples and Success Stories

Case 1: Training on recently purchased equipment or software:

Admiral Insurance Brokerage Corp. is an insurance company that negotiates and sells personal and commercial insurance. The business invested in two new software systems to help its employees better prospect and manage clients.

Solution: Admiral Insurance was awarded $38,787 to provide training on the two new systems. Admiral Insurance was also able to offer training to improve staff skills in account management and selling.

Results:

• Admiral Insurance increased number of new clients.
• The saw an overall boost in workplace morale.

Case 2: Training to offer new services/products to reach new markets

StratX IT Solutions is an information technology (IT) managed service provider that specialized in healthcare IT support. As healthcare customers have slowed over the years, StratX decided to expand to two new sectors, insurance and real estate.

Solution: StratX IT was awarded $83,162 to train employees in a variety of technology certifications to move into these two new sectors.

Results:

• Staff can now offer new services to their existing clients.
• Staff can reach new clients in new sectors.

Case 3: Training to give current staff new skills to advance into hard-to-fill positions

Fancy Foods Inc. is a wholesale distributor of meat and poultry products located in the Bronx. Fancy Foods applied for Customized Training to provide current employees with new skills to help the business remain competitive, grow their customer base, and promote existing employees.

Solution: Fancy foods was awarded $23,521 to train 19 employees in leadership, supervisory skills, project management, and sales training.

Results:

• Within the past year the business has focused on improving company culture by hosting a bowling night, Bring Your Child to Work Day, and other company events.
• All employees who participated in the training were successfully retained, resulting in a 100 percent retention rate.

Case 4: Training to update obsolete skills that are necessary for the business to be competitive

AWISCO is a supplier of industrial and welding equipment throughout the New York metro area. AWISCO applied for Customized Training to offer trainings that would make the business more attractive to customers through new technology and improved processes.

Solution: AWISCO was awarded $76,753.60 to train 46 employees in lean manufacturing, lean cycle counting, and customer service.

Results:

• AWISCO updated its inventory processes.
• The company increased sales due to customer service trainings.