Businesses

The SWMNPIC is dedicated to the workforce as a whole — not just employees — and offers services to help local businesses and entrepreneurs thrive. As a business owner, there are ways to tap into reserves of talent that are usually ignored. This can not only bring you into contact with fresh talent, but also some great tax breaks. Whether you are looking for information on starting a new business, hiring employees, training your workers, advice on employment or safety law, financial help to train new employees, etc., we can help.

We can offer:

• How to post your jobs on the state job bank website.
• How use social media to multiply job candidates
• Applicant Recruitments and/or Screening
• Space for Interviewing and Recruiting.
• Access to specialized job placement and training for adults and youth, such as:
  • Paid Work Experience
  • Customized Training Opportunities
  • Employee Recruitment
  • Outplacement Services
  • Employee Workshops (on or off site)
  • Computer Skills Training
  • Career Assessments for Applicants
• Other Services - Please drop us a line through the “Contact Us” tab above.
  

Programs for Specialty Groups

Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)

The WOTC reimburses employers a portion of wages paid to employees from a number of specialty groups including (but not limited to):

• Ex-felons
• Recovered alcoholics and drug users
• Economically disadvantaged youth or young adults
• Welfare recipients
• Veterans (even if dishonorably discharged)
• Lack employment history
• 16-17 year-old youth who lives in an EZ,  hired for the summer (May 1 and September 15)
• For more information call 888-234-5521, e-mail href="deedwotcstatemnus">deedwotcstatemnus, or visit the WOTC web page.

Federal Bonding

The Minnesota Federal Bonding Service insures against theft of money or property (between approximately $5,000-$25,000) from many of the WOTC groups listed above. There are no forms papers to sign or forms to fill out. The bond is good as soon as the coordinator certifies the bond.

• Did you know? Less than 1% of bonds are ever claimed, underscoring the reliability of WOTC groups.

For more information call 800-345-2537 or visit Minnesota’s bonding web page.

Workers with Disabilities

• The Disabled Access Credit provides a non-refundable credit for small businesses that incur expenditures for the purpose of providing access to persons with disabilities.
• The Architectural Barrier Removal Tax Deduction encourages businesses of any size to remove architectural and transportation barriers to the mobility of persons with disabilities and the elderly. Businesses may claim a deduction of up to $15,000 a year for qualified expenses
• The Work Opportunity Credit (WOC) provides eligible employers with a tax credit up to 40 percent of the first $6,000 of first-year wages of a new, legally disabled employee. For disabled veterans, it is up to 40% of the first $12,000.
• Business Case for hiring disabled workers.
• The Job Accommodation Network is a free counseling and informational service for employers, educating them on having disabled workers in their company.
• The Minnesota Star Program helps employers obtain technology to help their disabled workers be even more efficient in the workplace.

Employees

• The Shared Work Program helps employers through a slump in business. Rather than laying off employees and going through costly restructuring and retraining, the Shared Work Program helps pay your employees’ wages until business picks up.
• Trade Adjustment Assistance assists employees who were laid off due to international outsourcing. Make your employees aware of the resources available to help them transition.
• On the Job Training (OJT) matches employers up to 50 percent of an employee’s wage for a fixed period of time, and allows eligible employees to develop job skills through work, at a low cost to employers. Contact the business representitives below for more information.

Resources

• EMPLOY is a state employment agency focusing on workers with a criminal record. EMPLOY offers a free, state-regulated process for hiring qualified workers — often WOTC eligible (see above) — with state certification, including an ongoing monitoring, mentoring and follow-up program.
• MINNCOR, UNICOR, and Rebuild Resources are manufacturing companies that use prison inmates or people with a criminal background as employees. MINNCOR is run by the state of Minnesota, UNICOR is federal, and Rebuild Resources is a private company in the Twin Cities. These companies offer low-cost manufacturing, finishing, and packaging services to businesses looking for affordable, efficient services within the state — and at the same time offer crucial work skills training to a disadvantaged faction of the population.

Contact

Denise Myhrberg, Business Services Specialist (Marshall/Worthington)
507-537-6236
denisemyhrbergstatemnus  (DeniseMyhrbergstatemnus)  

Julie Redepenning, Business Services Specialist (Montevideo)
320-441-6571
julieredepenningstatemnus  (JulieRedepenningstatemnus)  

Cameron Macht, Regional Labor Market Analyst
320-441-6567
cameronmachtstatemnus  (cameronmachtstatemnus)  

Misc.

• Handbook for Employers: Hiring Immigrants/Refugees
• Handbook for Employers: Hiring Ex-offenders
• Hiring Migrant Workers