Workforce Development Funds FY25 - Guidelines and Application Process

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT FUNDS FY25 (July 1, 2025 June 30, 2026) Carolyn McKinnon, Policy Associate, Workforce Education Kari Kauffman, Program Coordinator, Education Division February 26, 2025

ABOUT THE WEBINAR This webinar is being recorded and will be made available to all participants for future reference This webinar will discuss the application process and is not a forum to vet proposal ideas We will gather your questions today. Answers will be posted in a Q&A document on the program webpage and updated regularly through Monday, March 24. Use the search bar at www.sbctc.edu to find Workforce Development Funds . Note: All material licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

WHAT WELL COVER Overview of the Workforce Development Funds FY26 guidelines, including: the purpose of the funds types of proposals who may apply funding and budget details Invest in Washington Applying through OGMS Attachments to be submitted for consideration Note: All material licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

PURPOSE OF FUNDS, PART 1 This funding is to support one-time projects that are necessary to support the development, implementation, transition, redesign, or adjustment of workforce education and training programs to: (a) meet the changing needs of industry, or (b) meet the changing expectations of learners for how education and training is delivered, or (c) to support local workforce and economic development initiatives. Note: All material licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

PURPOSE OF FUNDS, PART 2 Under one or more of these three themes (a-c above), projects must address one or more of the following for workforce education: new technology, competencies, and/or equipment required by industry, articulation agreements, common course numbering (across multiple colleges), and/or common and transparent career pathways (across multiple colleges), competency-based credentials, micro-credentials and micro-pathways, badging, and/or bridging from non-credit professional development or technical programs to credit pathways, bridging from non-credit contract training of incumbent workers (e.g. Job Skills Program trainees) to degree and certificate pathways, innovations in hybrid, HyFlex, remote, virtual, and/or asynchronous instructional design and delivery, embedding industry recognized credentials in professional-technical programs, establishing or expanding workforce development partnerships among employers, education and training providers, and workers, and/or faculty training and/or return-to-industry to support efforts to revise instructional materials; faculty training must be inclusive of adjunct faculty. Note: All material licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

CONTINUED IN FY26 Invest in Washington funding of approximately $82,000 has been added to the Workforce Development Fund. Priority will be given to projects designed to accomplish one or more of the priorities specific to manufacturing and production occupations; and Priority points will be awarded to proposals that meet these criteria, provided the minimum requirements are also met. This fund supports customized training, job skills, job readiness training, workforce professional development, and/or to assist employers with state-approved registered apprenticeship programs specifically for manufacturing and production occupations specifically for manufacturing and production occupations. Note: All material licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

TYPES OF PROPOSALS Support of workforce education and training program: Support of workforce education and training program: Projects addressing locally identified strategic initiatives, through collaboration with community partners, which require changes in education and training programs in order to deliver a workforce to meet industry needs. Support of priorities for manufacturing and production Support of priorities for manufacturing and production occupations (Invest in Washington): occupations (Invest in Washington): Support customized training, job skills, job readiness training, workforce professional development, and/or to assist employers with state-approved registered apprenticeship programs specifically for manufacturing and production occupations specifically for manufacturing and production occupations. Note: All material licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

WHO MAY APPLY Public community and technical colleges, as defined under RCW 28B.50.030, and Centers of Excellence (COE), as codified under RCW 28B.50.902, may apply for funding. Colleges may submit only one application as an individual institution or as the lead institution of a consortium. Applications are allowed from both a Center of Excellence (COE) and, separately, from their host college. Applications from a COE should be in a separate OGMS application but submitted through its host college. While a COE can submit applications separately, and colleges may participate in more than one consortium, the review panel will be cautious about awarding funding for multiple projects to one institution. Note: All material licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

FUNDING July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. NO EXTENSIONS. Amount available: $1,582,000. State-funded, administered by SBCTC Individual proposals: $25,000 min. to $150,000 max. Consortium (multiple colleges or COEs) proposal max: $500,000 This is an allocation, not a grant. No invoices in OBIS; funds allocated directly to college. Work with your business office. No less than $82,000 of the total funding must be awarded to an Invest in Washington project(s). Considerations: The review panel and SBCTC reserve the right to scale proposals as needed. Any necessary equipment purchases ($5,000+ per unit cost) must receive approval during the application review process. When developing proposals, colleges should give strong consideration to the intent of the funding, and the total amount of available resource to best demonstrate the practicality of the proposal. Note: All material licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

BUDGET DETAILS Administration Costs associated with supporting this funding opportunity General Transition, redesign, or adjustment of workforce education and training programs, and instructional programs, Create, support, or streamline local workforce and economic development initiatives; and/or Support and expand workforce development partnerships among employers, education and training providers, and workers. Note: All material licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

ONLINE GRANT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM QUESTIONS Contact your OGMS Security Contact for access to the 2025-26 Workforce Development Funds application. The OGMS User Manual is available under the How To tab in OGMS. Contact your OGMS Security Contact if your question is not answered in the Manual. Contact Kari Kauffman, 360-704-1021 if your Security Contact cannot resolve your question. Note: All material licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

OGMS LOGIN AND APPLICATION ACCESS If you ve forgotten your OGMS username, contact your OGMS Security Contact. If you ve forgotten your OGMS password, use the Retrieve my password feature located here. Create a new application for the FY26 Workforce Development Funds. Save frequently to ensure you don t lose your work! Note: All material licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

APPLICATION INFORMATION AND GRANT RESOURCES Enter your contact information on the Applicant Information screen Be sure to avoid typos when entering your email address. Add OGMS as a safe sender. As much as possible, add a secondary contact. Find and download Program Guidelines, as well as other important documents in the Grant Info link.

APPLYING IN OGMS, PART 1 All required elements must be completed and uploaded to be considered for funding. OGMS narrative Applicant Information Contents Section 1 Section 1: General Information Section 2: Section 2: Project Description, Statement of Need, Link to System Strategic Plan Goals Section 3: Section 3: Project Timeline and Planning Section 4: Section 4: Budget Narrative Section 5 Section 5: Leveraged Resources Budget Attachments Note: All material licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

APPLYING IN OGMS, PART 2, ASSURANCES & UPLOADING DOCUMENTS Find the FY26 Assurances in the Assurances tab Download and print for completion and signature Upload the Assurances in the Attachments tab Required for your application to be considered complete Note: All material licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

APPLYING IN OGMS, PART 3, REQUIRED ATTACHMENTS In addition to Assurances, the following must be uploaded in OGMS for an application to be complete: Budget & Equipment List (Excel): If requesting equipment, the FY26 equipment list must be completed as part of the budget workbook, and equipment totals from that list must match the equipment budget line item. Letter(s) of Assurance: Consortium Projects: Letters of assurance (separate from Assurances, mentioned previously) from all participating colleges. (Part 4 will address more about consortium proposals) Note: All material licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

APPLYING IN OGMS, PART 4 If applying as a consortium, these elements must be completed: Applications need to clearly demonstrate how the activities of the individual members or pooling of resources support a common goal. The budget information completed in OGMS must represent the totals for the entire consortium In addition, a budget & equipment break out of the funding to go to each consortium college/COE must be uploaded as an attachment in OGMS Letters of assurance from the consortium colleges addressing roles and responsibilities, and commitment to project. Note: All material licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS & EVALUATION CRITERIA Use Appendix A as an application checklist! Review it early and often! This is what the review committee will use to score projects. Proposals that don t meet minimum requirements listed in Part 1 of Appendix A won t be reviewed. The review committee will represent a mix of business/industry, labor, and workforce development professionals. The committee makes recommendations to State Board leadership. Note: All material licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

REPORTING AND ACCOUNTABILITY A mid-year progress report is due by January 24, 2026. A final report is due by July 20, 2026. Reports will be submitted via OGMS. Note: All material licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

TIMELINE Proposals due: March 27, 11:55pm Staff available for assistance until 4pm March: Review Committee Clarification or revisions, if needed / project scaling if required Revisions are time-sensitive; please monitor inboxes for OGMS messages April-May 2025: Recommendations presented to State Board leadership for Board adoption in early June Notification and award of funding to take place prior to July 1, 2025 Funds available: July 1, 2025 Funds must be fully expended, and any equipment delivered/installed no later than June 30, 2026. Note: All material licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

QUESTIONS? Carolyn McKinnon 360-704-3903 cmckinnon@sbctc.edu Post Post- -webinar Survey webinar Survey A short survey will pop out on your screen after this webinar. Please take the time to give us your feedback. Your insights are invaluable as we strive to enhance our future events. Thank you. Note: All material licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.