Kansas Industrial Retraining helps restructuring companies retrain the people they already employ, and bringing in new or existing technology is one of the named reasons to apply. The company matches the state at least dollar for dollar, and a typical successful project lands between $1,200 and $2,000 per trainee. You choose the trainer. The eligibility rules are strict, so we check them with you first.
Kansas Industrial Retraining, run by the Kansas Department of Commerce, is a job retention program. It helps companies that are restructuring retrain current employees who would otherwise be displaced because their skills no longer match the work.
The guidelines name four kinds of restructuring: incorporating existing technology, developing and incorporating new technology, diversifying production, and developing new production. Bringing AI tools into daily work is a case of incorporating existing technology. Commerce makes the call on each application, so we make that case with you rather than assume it.
On the trainer, the employer picks. Instructor salaries and curriculum planning and development are named eligible costs, and a separate training entity is only required as fund administrator when several firms share a project. Trainer travel is eligible too, up to half of the award.
The gate is strict: a county median wage floor, health insurance for all employees, a 51% out-of-state revenue test for non-manufacturers, and no more than two contracts in four years. For a company that clears it, KIR is how a smaller team trains staff to automate repetitive work and keep pace with larger, better-funded competitors.
For Kansas companies that are restructuring and need to retrain at least one existing position. Priority goes to Kansas Basic Industries. Non-manufacturers have to show at least 51% of revenue from outside Kansas.
Instructor salaries, curriculum planning and development, materials, supplies, textbooks, manuals and minor training equipment. Training travel is eligible, including airfare, lodging up to $150 a night and a $60 daily meal allowance, with total travel capped at 50% of the award.
Start with Commerce's Business Development staff, who send the application template. The application and the $500 fee go in before or at the same time as training starts. If the completed application is not in within 90 days of the project starting, reserved funds may be released. Reimbursement comes at the end of the project.
A 30-person manufacturer adding AI tools to its operations sends four people through one course. Tuition is $12,000. Because the company matches at least dollar for dollar, the state can put in no more than $6,000, and at the typical $1,200 to $2,000 per trainee the award would land between $4,800 and $6,000 if approved. The company's cost is $6,000 to $7,200.
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.
Kansas does not fund supervisory training, so the courses fit best when they target the people doing the work: the back office, the field crews and the operations staff whose jobs are changing with new technology. Priority goes to manufacturing, distribution, regional service and similar basic industries, and the finance, field service and Claude Code courses map most directly onto them.
A 15 minute call to check the five eligibility points, choose the course, and choose the employees whose jobs are changing with the new technology.
You contact the Kansas Department of Commerce Business Development staff or your regional project manager. They confirm the project fits KIR and send the application template.
You submit the application with the $500 fee to KIT-KIR@ks.gov before or when training starts. A project manager builds the contract and budget. Your team takes 10 hours of live, instructor-led training over 4 to 5 weeks, and you pay the course invoice.
At the end of the project you submit the Reimbursement Cover Sheet, documentation of actual training costs and a trainee roster. Reimbursement is based on your match, your actual expenses and the number of positions trained under the approved plan. Payment by electronic funds transfer is available.
Plan your AI rollout as two budgets: training through KIR, and implementation as its own project. Our free AI capability audit maps the second one.
Yes, if your company qualifies for Kansas Industrial Retraining. KIR helps restructuring companies retrain current employees, and incorporating existing or new technology is one of the named reasons to apply. The Kansas Department of Commerce decides each application, and nothing is guaranteed.
At most half of eligible costs, because your company matches the state at least dollar for dollar. A typical successful project is funded at $1,200 to $2,000 per trainee. On a $3,000 seat that means roughly $1,200 to $1,500 back if approved. Four seats at $12,000 would bring back $4,800 to $6,000.
Kansas does not publish a dollar cap per company for KIR. The limits are the match, the typical per-trainee range, and a rule that a company can hold no more than two KIR contracts in a four-year period.
Kansas companies that are restructuring and whose employees are likely to be displaced without new skills. The average wage has to meet the county median, health insurance has to be available to all employees, and a non-manufacturer needs at least 51% of revenue from outside Kansas. Priority goes to manufacturing, distribution, regional or national service and other basic industries.
Current employees in at least one existing position that is being retrained. Reimbursement is tied to a trainee roster with names, so the people in the room need to be on your staff. Supervisory training is not eligible.
Yes, the employer picks the trainer. Instructor salaries and curriculum development are eligible costs, and a training entity is only required as fund administrator when several firms share a project. The guidelines set no in-state rule for trainers, and trainer travel is an eligible cost up to half of the award.
No. Trainee salaries are not eligible, so you pay your people for the 10 hours as usual.
Before or at the same time as training starts, and yes, the fee is $500 and non-refundable. Applications are accepted year-round. Talk to Commerce's Business Development staff first so the fee goes toward a project that fits.
As a reimbursement at the end of the project. You submit a Reimbursement Cover Sheet, documentation of actual costs and a trainee roster, and Commerce pays based on your match, actual expenses and the positions trained. Contracts run 12 months.
Trainee wages, business management consultant fees, equipment not related to the training, fringe benefits for trainers, supervisory training, and fees for writing the application. AI software subscriptions and building automations are outside the program. It pays for training.
Kansas lists KIR as current and accepting applications year-round. We confirm the current guidelines with Commerce before you apply, because the linked guidelines file carries two different dates.
Send the form. We check the five eligibility points with you on a short call, then you contact Commerce's Business Development staff at KIT-KIR@ks.gov or (785) 296-5298 to start the application.