The $3,500 Apprentice Incentive: How to Claim Your Share of a $35.8 Million Fund | Ep. 53

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There’s $35.8 million sitting in a federal fund built to pay manufacturers for hiring and training apprentices, and most shop owners have never heard of it. It pays $3,500 per apprentice. It’s first come, first served. And when the money runs out, it’s gone.

That’s the American Manufacturing Apprenticeship Incentive Fund, or AMAIF, and it’s what we dug into on this episode. Phil Hanke is back in the co-host seat and he brought Abby Mataya, who leads CLA’s state and local business incentives team, to walk through exactly how it works.

Here’s the part I want you to hear. This is not a tax credit you’ll see on a form next April. It’s a pay for performance incentive payment. You hire an apprentice into a registered apprenticeship program in a qualifying advanced manufacturing occupation, you keep them 90 days, you do some light compliance reporting, and the money gets wired to you. It covers more than 120 occupations, it works for new hires and for incumbent employees you’re upskilling, and there’s no company too small. One apprentice qualifies.

Phil ran the numbers, and at $30 an hour you’re recovering roughly 5% of a year’s compensation for a 90 day commitment. Ten apprentices is $35,000 straight to your bottom line, and if you’re trading at a four times multiple, that’s $140,000 of enterprise value you just created out of money you were spending anyway.

A lot of these programs go unclaimed because nobody applies. If your tax provider isn’t bringing incentives like this to you, that’s a signal. Phil was polite about it. I wasn’t. Go find a provider who will.

What’s Covered in this Episode

• (0:00) $3,500 per eligible apprentice, and why it’s an incentive payment rather than a tax credit
• (1:25) Get to know Abby Mataya from CLA’s state and local business incentives team
• (4:35) AMAIF explained: the American Manufacturing Apprenticeship Incentive Fund, backed by $35.8 million in federal funds
• (5:45) Registered apprenticeship programs: Build one in house or partner with a sponsor?
• (6:55) Why we created Hire MFG Leaders (and why you should use it)
• (7:24) More than 120 advanced manufacturing occupations qualify for the AMAIF
• (8:06) What do you get through AMAIF? How does the program work?
• (10:17) What recapturing $3,500 per hire does to your enterprise value
• (14:05) How to apply for the AMAIF and what you have to report
• (16:58) State workforce training grants and state run apprenticeship incentives
• (18:22) Why you should head to Elevate powered by AMT and WIM at IMTS
• (19:17) Stacking incentives: a state internship credit, a local workforce grant, and this federal fund on top
• (22:57) The “I’m too small for that” myth, and why some of this money never gets claimed at all
• (26:09) If your tax provider isn’t bringing these opportunities to you, go find one who will
• (27:53) You’ve hit your 90 days with your apprentice: now what?
• (29:54) Learn how Navu delivers reliable, accurate answers in real time
• (31:07) What turnover actually costs, from lost capacity to recruiting spend

Resources Mentioned

• The American Manufacturing Apprenticeship Incentive Fund (AMAIF)
• State Apprenticeship System List
• Check out the Elevate conference powered by AMT and Women in Manufacturing
• Hire MFG Leaders
• Navu.co/MakingChips
• Explore CLA’s incentives and tax credit resources at CLAConnect.com

Connect with Abby Mataya and Phil Hanke

• Connect with Abby Mataya on LinkedIn
• Connect with Phil Hanke on LinkedIn
• Browse the CLA resources page for articles spanning incentives, tax, and manufacturing at CLAConnect.com