Power Up Indiana reimburses employers up to $5,000 per employee trained and up to $50,000 a year. The condition is a raise: each trained employee needs a wage gain of at least 10% after training, held for two quarters, ending above the median wage for your region. We are confirming how the state calculates the reimbursement before we quote a number.
Power Up Indiana is the Department of Workforce Development's incentive for employers who build up the people they already have. The state's own reasoning is short: Indiana is at full employment, so the next wave of growth comes from building up employees, not hiring more of them.
The program pays per employee trained, but only when the training turns into higher pay. Each trained employee needs a wage gain of at least 10% after training, held for two consecutive quarters, and has to end above the median wage for your region. For a small or mid-sized business, that is a way to train staff to automate repetitive work and compete with larger, better-funded competitors, with the state reimbursing the training once the raise is in place.
On trainers, Indiana is flexible but not open-ended. Training on the state's Eligible Training Provider List, registered apprenticeships and State Earn and Learn programs are pre-approved. Anything else, including our courses, is reviewed by your local workforce area as specialized company training and compared with similar industry training. That is a review, not a rejection.
Two things the manual does not address: trainers based outside Indiana, and live virtual delivery. Our trainer is based in Massachusetts, so we confirm both with your local area before you commit.
For Indiana businesses of all sizes with a current state unemployment insurance account, Secretary of State registration and a physical location in Indiana.
Training on the Eligible Training Provider List, registered apprenticeships and State Earn and Learn programs are pre-approved. Other training is reviewed by the local workforce area against similar industry training.
You submit the interest form at powerup.dwd.in.gov. The state team follows up, and approval sets your reimbursement structure. After training, you submit the invoice through the state's system, the local area and the Office of Commerce review it, and the local area pays your business by electronic transfer. Paper checks are not used.
A 20-person company sends four people through one course. Tuition is $12,000. Each of the four gets a raise of at least 10% that holds for two quarters and ends above the regional median. If the state reimburses actual cost up to the cap and the project is approved, up to $12,000 could come back. The raises are the company's ongoing cost.
The five courses are the same in every state: 10 instructional hours, live and instructor-led, $3,000 per trainee, two-seat minimum. Start with who will be in the room. A mixed group of managers, admins and customer-facing staff belongs in AI Enablement for Small Business Teams. If the pressure is in the back office, AI for Finance, Accounting and Payroll Teams is built for the people who close the month and run payroll.
Contractors, home services and any crew-based business should look at AI for Field Service and Trades Businesses. Law, accounting, medical, dental, architecture and advisory offices fit AI for Professional Practices. And if you have someone who lives in spreadsheets, exports and reports, Claude Code for Operations and Data Teams is the technical option, with a smaller cohort of up to 6.
In Indiana, pick the people before the course. The money depends on each trainee getting a 10% raise that ends above the regional median, so choose employees whose role will grow after the training, not the whole office.
A 15 minute call to confirm the four eligibility points, pick the course, and pick the employees whose pay will rise after training. If the raise math does not work, we tell you before you spend anything.
You fill out the short interest form at powerup.dwd.in.gov. The state team follows up on next steps, and your local workforce area reviews the course as specialized company training.
Your team takes 10 hours of live, instructor-led training over 4 to 5 weeks. You pay the course invoice, then put the raises in place and hold them for two quarters.
You submit the invoice through the state's system. The local area and the Office of Commerce review it, and the local area pays your business by electronic transfer.
Indiana's manual does not publish a full list of ineligible costs, so we treat anything that is not training as outside the grant. Plan your AI rollout as two budgets: training through the grant, and implementation as its own project. Our free AI capability audit maps the second one.
Yes, through Power Up Indiana, if the training leads to a raise. The Department of Workforce Development reimburses employers up to $5,000 per employee trained and up to $50,000 per employer per year, when each trained employee gets a wage gain of at least 10% that holds for two quarters and ends above the regional median wage. The program is open to any industry.
Up to $3,000, if approved and if the state reimburses actual cost up to the $5,000 cap. Four employees at $3,000 each is $12,000 in tuition, which could all come back once the raises are in place. The manual says $5,000 per employee trained without saying whether it is flat or cost-based, so we confirm the calculation before quoting it.
Each trained employee needs a wage gain of at least 10% after training, held for two consecutive quarters, and has to end above the median wage for your region. An employee already paid well above the median still needs the 10% gain. The raise is the real cost of this program, so plan it before you pick trainees.
Indiana businesses of any size with a current state unemployment insurance (SUTA) account, registration with the Indiana Secretary of State, and a physical location in Indiana. A mail drop address does not count. The state names manufacturers, healthcare providers, logistics firms and Main Street employers as examples.
Your current employees. The manual is written for employees on your payroll whose wages you can raise and report. It does not publish separate rules for part-time staff, so we confirm those with your local area. Contractors you do not pay wages to cannot show the required raise.
Yes, with a review. Training on Indiana's Eligible Training Provider List, registered apprenticeships and State Earn and Learn programs are pre-approved. Anything else is reviewed by your local workforce area against similar industry training. The manual does not address trainers based outside Indiana, and ours is based in Massachusetts, so we confirm that with your local area first.
The manual does not say either way. We will not promise on-site or virtual delivery until your local area confirms what it accepts for your project.
The interest form is open now on a rolling basis at powerup.dwd.in.gov. The state team follows up after you submit it. Indiana does not publish a review time. The manual says employees trained since January 1, 2025 are eligible, but we still recommend talking to the local area before training starts.
After training, by electronic transfer to your business. You submit the invoice through the state's system, the local area and the Office of Commerce review it, and the local area pays you. Paper checks are not used.
No. The grant is for training. Wages during training, the raises themselves, software, equipment, consulting and implementation come out of your own budget.
The program is accepting interest forms. Indiana does not publish a remaining balance on the program page, and every award depends on approval. We will not promise an amount.
Check whether the raise math works for the people you want to train. Send the form and we will do that with you on a short call, then help you submit the interest form. You can also call the Department of Workforce Development at 1-800-457-8283.