To enact section 122.042 of the Revised Code to require the Director of Development to administer a grant program to provide funding to specified entities to provide training for employees in the fields of biotechnology and bioscience or any other field in which critical demands exist for certain skills.

Section 1. That section 122.042 be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 122.042. (A) As used in this section, "bioscience sector" includes companies who manufacture medical devices, biopharmaceutical products, biofuel, or agricultural bioproducts; health care service companies; health care organizations; and medical research organizations.

(B) The director of development shall provide grants to entities who satisfy the requirements specified in this section to provide training for individuals who are not employed in the field of biotechnology or the bioscience sector and wish to receive training to be employed in that field or sector. The director may provide such grants to entities engaged in any other field in which critical demands exist for certain skills.

(C) The director may accept applications for training grant funds awarded pursuant to this section from any of the following entities:

(1) A municipal corporation that provides any of the training programs described in division (D) of this section;

(2) An employer, including an intermediary or a training agent of the employer, that provides any of the training programs described in division (D) of this section;

(3) Any of the following entities that sponsor multi-company employee training projects that offer programs described in division (D) of this section if those projects will address common training needs identified by employers who elect to participate in the project offered by the entity:

(a) Business associations;

(b) Strategic business partnerships;

(c) Institutions of secondary or higher education;

(d) Large manufacturers for supplier network companies;

(e) Agencies of the state or of a political subdivision of the state or grant recipients under the federal "Workforce Investment Act of 1998," 112 Stat. 936, 29 U.S.C. 2801, as amended.

(D) The director may award grants to eligible applicants described in division (C) of this section if in the application, the applicant specifies that the money received from the grant will be used for employee training programs that include, but are not limited to, any of the following:

(1) Training programs that are in response to new or changing technology introduced into the workplace;

(2) Job-linked training programs that offer special skills for career advancement or that are preparatory for, and lead directly to, a job with definite career potential and long-term job security;

(3) Training programs that are necessary to implement a total quality management system, a total quality improvement system, or both within the workplace;

(4) Training related to learning how to operate new machinery or equipment;

(5) Training for employees of companies that are expanding into new markets or expanding exports from this state and that provide jobs in this state;

(6) Basic training, remedial training, or both of employees as a prerequisite for other vocational or technical skills training or as a condition for sustained employment;

(7) Other training activities, training projects, or both, related to the support, development, or evaluation of job training programs, activities, and delivery systems, including training needs assessment and design.

(E) The director shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to establish the terms and conditions under which a grant may be awarded under this section and as necessary to implement this section. The director shall include in the rules the director adopts a requirement that, if an entity that applies for a grant awarded under this section is not an employer, the entity must specify in the entity's application employers who will benefit from the training the entity provides to ensure that the training provided satisfies the needs of employers located in the area where the entity provides the training programs described in division (D) of this section. No grant awarded under this section shall be for an amount that exceeds fifty per cent of the allowable costs of the training programs described in division (D) of this section provided by an entity described in division (C) of this section. Under this section, allowable costs include, but are not limited to, the following costs:

(1) Administrative costs for tracking, documenting, reporting, and processing training funds or project costs;

(2) Costs for developing a curriculum;

(3) Wages for instructors and if the individuals receiving training are employed by the employer who offers the program, wages for those individuals;

(4) Costs incurred for producing training materials, including scrap product costs;

(5) Trainee travel expenses;

(6) Costs for rent, purchase, or lease of training equipment;

(7) Other usual and customary training costs.

(F) An entity described in division (C) of this section shall use money received from a grant only for the programs that the entity specified in the entity's application in accordance with division (D) of this section. A municipal corporation that receives a grant under this section may use the money received for a training program that also is funded pursuant to the federal "Workforce Investment Act of 1998," 112 Stat. 936, 29 U.S.C. 2801, as amended.

(G) The director shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to establish methods and procedures the director shall use to identify transitional jobs and to develop and identify training strategies that will enable individuals who are not employed in the field of biotechnology or the bioscience sector to be employed in that field or sector.

(H) The director shall require an employee of the department of development to conduct at least one on-site visit to monitor the application of the grant and compliance with this section and any rules the director adopts pursuant to it, either during the course of the grant period or within six months after the end of the grant period. The employee shall verify that the grantee's financial management system is structured to provide for accurate, current, and complete disclosure of the financial results of the grant program in accordance with all provisions, terms, and conditions contained in the grant contract entered into by the grantee and the director pursuant to this section and any rules the director adopts pursuant to it.