Workforce

Public, Private Partnerships Provide Skilled Labor

Workforce Development

The Arkansas Economic Development Commission’s (AEDC) Training & Quality Management Division assists businesses in many ways. The Business and Industry Training Program (BITP) is focused on customized training, including pre-employment training for new and expanding companies and financial assistance to existing manufacturing companies to develop a highly skilled workforce.

A partnership between six State Agencies has been established to ensure that companies in need of locating employees have access to individuals who have the basic employability skills required to be successful on the job. The certification earned by these applicants is called The Arkansas Career Readiness Certification (CRC).

The CRC’s are issued at no cost to individuals by this partnership of agencies and is available at no cost to companies who wish to participate in the program. Applicants holding a CRC have demonstrated proficiency at the Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels of certificates in 1) Reading for Information, 2) Applied Mathematics, and 3) Locating Information. These are all applied skills and are work based applications.

AEDC’s Business and Industry Training Program provides start-up training for new and expanding businesses and industries that commit to creating new jobs in Arkansas and for existing companies that are implementing new technology.

The program will coordinate training with educational institutions, advertise for production trainees, pay for training trainers when appropriate, and arrange off-site training facilities when needed.

The Existing Workforce Training Program (EWTP) provides financial assistance to Arkansas companies for upgrading the skills of their existing workforce. Secondary objectives are to build the capacity within state-supported educational institutions to supply the on-going training needs of Arkansas business and industry.

The program is administered by a governing council that consists of a representative from three state departments: The Department of Higher Education, Arkansas Department of Workforce Education and The Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC). The lead agency for this administration is AEDC.

EWTP reimbursements are calculated according to a set of scoring criteria. For companies that use a state-supported educational institution, the program provides up to 50 percent of the cost of training paid to the school or $80 per instructional hour, whichever is less.

For companies that use their own employees or company-paid consultants to deliver classroom training to their employees, EWTP offers an income tax credit that cannot exceed $25 per instructional hour.

The maximum reimbursement for funding (cash reimbursement and tax credits) for any one company site cannot exceed $50,000 per year.

To be considered for financial assistance under EWTP, a company must submit an application ten days prior to the beginning of training, provide assurance that the participants involved in the proposed training program possess the requisite literacy skills, and clearly tie the proposed training to specific business goals and performance objectives.

The department’s area representatives, as well as outreach coordinators from state-supported educational institutions, can help design a company’s training program and prepare the EWTP financial assistance application.

Arkansas Right to Work Law

In 1944, the people of Arkansas amended the state Constitution to ensure that all people in Arkansas would have the right to work, regardless of their affiliation or non-affiliation with any type of labor organization. Another important law governs peaceful labor relations. Act 193 provides that any violence that takes place on any picket line or in conjunction with a labor dispute becomes a felony and not a misdemeanor, and the person committing the act of violence is liable for confinement in the state penitentiary for not less than one year.

Workers’ Compensation

Arkansas has one of the most progressive workers’ compensation programs in the nation, with more than 30 insurance underwriters. Since July 1, 1992, the state has not experienced a rate increase, and premiums have decreased overall by 38 percent.

Labor Force

The Arkansas Department of Workforce Services reports the following average labor pool estimates as of October 2008:

Labor Pool - Central Arkansas Counties

For more information, Joey Dean (Vice President, Economic Development; Executive Director, Metro Little Rock Alliance), 501.377.6006.