Iowa businesses seeking to cultivate a highly skilled workforce can leverage a powerful resource: the Accelerated Career Education (ACE) program. This initiative empowers Iowa’s community colleges to create or expand educational programs specifically tailored to meet the in-demand occupations within the state. By partnering with these institutions, businesses can directly shape the talent pipeline and secure a workforce ready for the challenges of today’s economy.
How Iowa Businesses Can Partner in Career Education
The ACE program operates through a collaborative sponsorship model. Businesses enter into agreements with community colleges to sponsor positions within new or expanding educational programs. This sponsorship demonstrates a commitment to nurturing local talent and ensures that training aligns directly with industry needs. In return for their investment, sponsoring companies gain priority access to graduates, effectively building a pipeline of qualified candidates.
Participating businesses play a vital role in program design, ensuring the curriculum is relevant and equips students with the precise skills required for success in their fields. Furthermore, businesses contribute a 20% match of the program costs, proportionate to their sponsored positions. This financial partnership underscores the shared responsibility in developing Iowa’s workforce.
Financial Incentives: Tax Benefits for Workforce Development
To further encourage business participation, the ACE program offers significant tax benefits. Companies that sponsor educational programs can offset program costs through job credits. These credits are calculated based on the number of program job credits accrued, directly tied to the number of positions sponsored.
These valuable job credits can reach up to 10% of the hiring wage for program graduates (with a minimum wage threshold set at 200% of the federal poverty guideline for a family of two). The job credits function as a diversion of a company’s existing Iowa personal income withholding tax, redirected to the community college over the agreement’s lifespan, typically five years. This mechanism provides a sustainable funding model for these crucial career education programs.
Is Your Business Eligible for a Career in Education Partnership?
The ACE program is open to businesses actively engaged in interstate or intrastate commerce within key sectors of the Iowa economy. Eligible industries include:
- Manufacturing, processing, or assembling products
- Construction
- Research and development activities
- Service industries
This broad eligibility ensures that a wide range of Iowa businesses can benefit from and contribute to the development of robust career education programs.
Take the Next Step: Connect with Your Community College
Ready to explore how A Career In Education Program partnership can benefit your business and Iowa’s workforce? The next step is simple: reach out to your local community college. Their dedicated teams can provide detailed information on eligibility, program development, and the application process.
Contact a Community College to Determine Eligibility
Resources for Iowa Businesses
Iowa’s Employee Training Programs Flyer
Explore Related Workforce Programs
Get in Touch
For further inquiries about the ACE program and how to get involved, please contact:
Janece Hicks, IWD 260 Program Manager
You can also fill out our program contact form.
