Grant Relief for Onboarding Workers

Grant Relief for Onboarding Workers (GROW) COVID-19 financial assistance is intended for business entities, both for-profit and not-for-profit, negatively impacted by the pandemic, including but not limited to, hospitality (hotel and food service), transportation, retail, travel, cosmetology, dependent care, and other industries with front-line workers, and particularly for small businesses.

WorkSource Montgomery, Inc. (WSM) will award grants in two tiers: one flat rate for part-time workers (from $5,000.00) and one for full-time workers (from $10,000.00); meant to cover the cost of the first few weeks of onboarding training upon hiring.

Grants will be awarded upon receipt of verification of employment. Please see eligibility, requirements, and FAQs. This is for newly hired employees only.

The GROW grant offered by WSM is supported 100% by the United States Department of Treasury as part of Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds as permitted by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

GROW Grant Eligibility/Guidelines

• Must be a business in good standing with the state of Maryland.
• Must have been negatively impacted by COVID-19 and provide a written statement of your hardship.
• Must have registered on the Maryland Workforce Exchange (MWE).
• Must have entered Job Order(s) in MWE.
• Must be a business with a work location in Montgomery County, MD.
• Must hire workforce staff who are residents of Montgomery County, MD.
• New hires must be employed on or after 2/24/2022 and cannot be hired more than 30 days prior to our GROW application date. 
• Employer may not reapply for a new hire for which GROW funds were granted previously and employee quit or was let go.
• WSM Edge profile must be completed.
• Must hire for W-2 jobs vs. 1099s.
• Must hire permanent staff not temporary. These employees should be hired with the expectation that they will remain on your payroll for more than one year.
• Proof of hire (copy of paystub and employment verification letter) for each new hire to be included in the grant award, must be included with the application.
• Total award cannot exceed the maximum award amount of $100,000.00, including any prior grant award amount received.
• Applications are reviewed as received.
• Funds are not guaranteed and are available until exhausted.
• Please check with your Tax Advisor regarding any potential award receipt implications.
• Funding is subject to availability and application submission does not guarantee award.

GROW Application Instructions

Preliminary Steps:
Before you begin your GROW application, please make sure you have an active account on the Maryland Workforce Exchange (MWE) database.

Existing/Past MWE Account Holders:

• If you no longer remember your login, you will need to contact the Maryland Department of Labor for a password reset.
• Check to be sure the correct person who is responsible for posting Job Orders and conducting candidate searches is the person associated with your account.
• If your business is not in good standing with the State of Maryland, you will first need to resolve any discrepancies before you may apply for GROW.

First-Time Users:

• To register for the first time, you will need your FEIN and the contact information for your account point of contact (POC). See provided MWE Employer Guidelines and MWE Instructions. There is also a tutorial on the site.
• Before you can proceed to utilize MWE for no-cost candidate searches, etc., the Maryland Department of Labor must first verify you. This may take a few days and they may need to contact you.
• Once you have accessed MWE successfully, fill out the necessary information to post a job and make note of the job order number(s) for the position(s) you intend to fill. You will need to add this information to your GROW application. 
• When entering Job Order Job Details, find the section “Special Categories,” view the drop down menu and click  “GROW.”
• Note:  Sourcing candidates from within MWE to fill the job orders is strongly preferred.

Resources:

• Download Employee Verification Letter template
  • Employee Verification Letter template (SPANISH Version)
• Review MWE Employer Guidelines and MWE Instructions
  • MWE Employer Guidelines (SPANISH Version)
  • MWE Instructions (SPANISH Version)
• Review the posted FAQs
  • FAQs (SPANISH Version)

Further questions? Contact us via email at: grow@worksourcemontgomery.com.

Grow Grant Application

Note: Only Click After Hiring

This link will take you to a secure portal where you will enter your business identification information, upload documents, and provide specific information related to the jobs filled. Do not click on this link until after you have hired new staff (up to 10 distinct roles or 10 different staff members for one role).

Click Here To Apply