CRITERIA

Currently, the Virginia Jobs Investment Program offers three programs to both new and existing businesses:

• New Jobs Program
• Small Business New Jobs Program
• Retraining Program

If your company's location or expansion does not meet the criteria above, please find information on other workforce development programs available in our Business Resource Center.

Eligibility for assistance in any of the programs offered by the Virginia Jobs Investment Program is limited to projects that create basic employment for the Commonwealth and only for-profit companies in the following business sectors will qualify:

• Manufacturing
• Distribution Centers
• Corporate HQ’s for Companies with Multiple Facilities (only HQ support positions will be funded)
• Inbound Call Centers
• Information Technology Services Exclusively for Businesses
• Research and Development Facilities

The New Jobs Program is a vital part of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s economic development efforts. The program targets expansions of existing companies or new facility locations which involve competition with other states or countries. The following criteria apply in order to qualify for assistance under the New Jobs Program:

• Virginia must be competing with another state or country for location or expansion decision.
• Companies must create a minimum of 25 net new jobs within 12 months from the date of the first hire, and make a capital investment of at least $1,000,000. Only full-time jobs are eligible for funding.
• A minimum entry-level wage rate of $10.00 per hour is required. In areas that have unemployment of two times or more the state level, this wage minimum may be waived.

Please note that the Retraining Program is open only to manufacturing firms and distribution centers.

The Small Business New Jobs Program supports existing Virginia companies which have 250 employees or less companywide. The following criteria apply in order to qualify for assistance under the Small Business New Jobs Program

• Company must create a minimum of 5 net new jobs within 12 months (of the first hire date) and at least 5 net new jobs each year of the 36 month cycle to remain in the Program. Only full-time jobs are eligible for funding.
• Company must make at least $100,000 in new capital investment.
• A minimum entry-level wage rate of $10.00 per hour is required. In areas that have unemployment of two times or more the state level, this wage minimum may be waived.

The Retraining Program provides services and funding to manufacturing companies and distribution centers to assist in training their existing work force. Retraining is upgrading the skills of existing employees identified as essential to the production or distribution of a product. Companies participating in the program are typically those which are undergoing an integration of new technology into its production processes, changing product lines in keeping with marketplace demands, or substantially changing service delivery processes requiring an assimilation of new skills and technological capabilities. To be eligible for the Retraining Program, the following criteria apply:

• The employer must be a manufacturing facility or distribution center.
• A minimum of ten (10) full-time employees need to be retrained. Only full-time jobs are eligible for funding.
• A new capital investment of at least $500,000 is required as the catalyst for the retraining project.
• Companies may utilize the Retraining Program not more than once every three years.
• A minimum entry-level wage rate of $10.00 per hour is required. In areas that have unemployment of two times or more the state level, this wage minimum may be waived.

Companies meeting the criteria can contact the Virginia Jobs Investment Program team at wfs@vdba.virginia.gov or (804) 371-8120 to request a presentation from our staff on the program. A Virginia Jobs Investment Program staff member must meet with a company before its application can be processed.