Skills for Small Business - Program Overview

The Texas Workforce Commission’s (TWC) Skills for Small Business program supports businesses with fewer than 100 employees, emphasizes training for new workers, and helps upgrade the skills of incumbent workers. Through this program, up to $2 million from the Skills Development Fund is dedicated to the backbone of Texas' business community—our more than 433,000 small employers.

Small businesses can apply to TWC for training offered by their local community or technical college or the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX). TWC processes the applications and works with the college to fund the specific courses selected by businesses for their employees.

About the Program

• The program emphasizes training newly hired employees—those who have been hired by the company up to 12 months prior to the date that TWC receives an application.
• It funds tuition and fees up to $1,800 per newly hired employee and up to $900 per incumbent employee. An individual employee can participate once per 12-month period.
• Funding for training is for full-time employees.
• All training must be provided by a public community or technical college, or TEEX. No third-party vendor training is allowed.
• Training must be selected from active course catalogs/schedules—credit, continuing education, online or other available unpublished courses.
• Training may focus on occupations within the Governor's six targeted industry clusters: Aerospace and Defense; Advanced Technologies and Manufacturing; Biotechnology and Life Science; Energy; Petroleum Refining and Chemical Products; and Information and Computer Technology.
• Training may also be emphasized for occupations targeted by Workforce Development Boards.
• Employers must pay the prevailing wages in the local labor market for the trainees funded under the grant.