The Indiana Employer Training Grant may help qualifying businesses offset the cost of training new or current employees.

Training employees costs money. Whether a business is teaching a new hire the skills needed for a position or helping an existing employee advance into a more skilled role, that investment can add up quickly.

Whether a business is teaching a new hire the skills needed for a position or helping an existing employee advance into a more skilled role, that investment can add up quickly.

Indiana employers may have a resource available to help offset some of those costs.

The Employer Training Grant, administered by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, reimburses qualifying Indiana employers for eligible occupational-skills training for new or current employees working in high-demand positions.

For Rush County employers planning to strengthen their workforce, it’s a program worth knowing about.

How the Indiana Employer Training Grant Can Help

According to current Indiana DWD guidance, participating employers can receive up to $50,000 in reimbursements.

Eligible employers may receive reimbursement of up to $5,000 per newly trained employee, subject to program requirements. Workers must be trained, hired and retained for at least six months, and the training must meet the state’s eligibility standards.

This isn’t simply reimbursement for routine orientation or informal job shadowing.

The training must build occupational skills connected to an eligible, in-demand occupation.

What Types of Businesses May Qualify?

The Employer Training Grant currently supports training associated with six priority sectors:

• Advanced Manufacturing
• Agriculture
• Building & Construction
• Health & Life Sciences
• IT & Business Services
• Transportation & Logistics

Indiana-based employers of any size are encouraged to apply, although the proposed training and occupations must satisfy the program’s requirements.

That makes the program particularly relevant in a community like Rush County, where several of these sectors are important parts of the local and regional economy.

What Kind of Training Counts?

This is where employers should pay close attention.

Eligible training must meet Indiana Department of Workforce Development requirements and be connected to qualifying occupational skills and eligible positions. Routine onboarding, general human-resources training and informal job shadowing may not qualify.

Additional eligibility requirements apply, including requirements related to the employees being trained, wages, training duration and retention. Because program requirements can change, employers should confirm current requirements with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development before beginning training or making financial decisions based on anticipated reimbursement.

The best first step is to discuss the proposed training before it begins. That allows an employer to determine whether the business, employees and planned training meet current program requirements.

Why Employer Training Matters in Rush County

Workforce development isn’t only about finding someone to fill an open position.

Sometimes the person an employer needs is already on the payroll—or a strong candidate can become the right employee with additional training.

Developing workers internally can help employers build skills that match their specific operations while creating advancement opportunities for employees.

Indiana’s Employer Training Grant is designed around that concept: helping businesses grow their own talent.

For employers struggling to find workers with every skill they need on day one, that approach can open another option.

Instead of asking only:

“Where do we find someone who already has these skills?”

it may also be worth asking:

“Can we develop those skills in someone we already have—or someone we’re willing to hire?”

Indiana Employer Training Grant: What Employers Should Know

One important point: employers shouldn’t complete training and assume they can request reimbursement afterward.

DWD’s process requires employers to submit information about their proposed training and work with the program before reimbursement. The state describes the process in three basic steps: apply, establish the training program, and then seek reimbursement after program requirements are met.

If your Rush County business is considering hiring, upskilling employees or developing workers for harder-to-fill positions, investigate the program before the training begins.

Indiana DWD Employer Training Grant information

Rush County employers can also contact the Rush to Work Job Center/WorkOne in Rushville to discuss workforce needs and available employer resources.

Workforce development works best when businesses don’t have to navigate every resource alone.

The latest Rush County workforce data provides a new snapshot of local employment, wages and the businesses that employ our workforce.

According to data released September 4 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Rush County had 428 covered establishments and 4,972 covered jobs in March 2026. The county’s average weekly wage during the first quarter of 2026 was $1,016.

Those numbers are more than statistics. They help provide context for the economic and workforce development work happening throughout Rush County.

Understanding Rush County Workforce Data

The Bureau of Labor Statistics figures come from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, commonly called QCEW.

The data includes workers covered by state unemployment insurance programs and federal workers covered by the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees program. Because of that definition, these numbers should not be interpreted as every person who works or every business operating in Rush County.

Instead, they provide a consistent way to examine employment and wages across communities.

What Rush County Workforce Data Tells Us

Rush County workforce data becomes more useful when we put the numbers into context. Rush County’s first-quarter average weekly wage of $1,016 compares with an Indiana average of $1,356. Statewide, Indiana had approximately 3.16 million covered jobs in March 2026, while the state’s average weekly wage increased 2.7% from the first quarter of 2025.

Rush County is one of Indiana’s smaller employment markets, which makes the strength and competitiveness of individual employers particularly important to the local economy.

For economic development, the goal isn’t simply to increase one number.

A healthy local economy requires businesses that can compete, workers who can build successful careers, a pipeline of future talent, and a community that can attract and retain both employers and residents.

Why Workforce Development Matters

Workforce data also reinforces why economic development and workforce development cannot operate separately.

When an existing employer wants to expand, workforce availability matters.

When a company considers Rush County for a new investment, access to talent matters.

When students make decisions about education and careers, knowing what opportunities exist locally matters.

And when residents are looking for better employment opportunities, connections to employers, training and career resources matter.

That is why Rush County ECDC works across several parts of the talent pipeline—from helping employers address current workforce needs to connecting residents with employment resources and helping students gain exposure to local careers.

Building for the Future

Rush County workforce data from a single quarter doesn’t tell the entire story of our local economy, and preliminary federal data can be revised.

What it does give us is another useful benchmark.

As Rush County works to attract investment, support existing businesses and strengthen its talent pipeline, tracking employment and wage data helps us better understand where we are—and where opportunities exist to keep moving forward.

Rush County ECDC will continue working with employers, educators, workforce partners and community leaders to help build a stronger local economy and create opportunities for the people who call Rush County home.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, First Quarter 2026. Data is preliminary.

View the September 4 BLS County Employment and Wages report

Thinking about starting a business in Rush County? You may have a great idea, a side hustle that’s gaining traction, or a skill you’ve wondered whether you could turn into a business. But knowing where to begin can sometimes be the hardest part.

Sometimes it starts with someone saying:

“I wonder if people would pay me to do this.”

It may be a product you’ve started selling to friends. A service people regularly ask you to provide. A skill you’ve considered turning into a side business. Or an idea you’ve been carrying around for years but haven’t known what to do with.

If you’re thinking about starting a business in Rush County, you don’t need to have everything figured out before taking the first step.

But there are some important questions worth answering before investing significant time or money.

1. What Problem Does Your Business Solve?

A good business idea isn’t simply something you enjoy doing.

Someone else has to value it enough to pay for it.

Start by identifying the customer you believe would buy your product or service and why.

What problem are you solving?

What need are you filling?

What would make someone choose your business instead of doing nothing—or buying from someone else?

Indiana’s entrepreneurship resources encourage prospective business owners to research whether their idea addresses an actual market need before investing heavily in launching it. The Indiana Small Business Development Center can also provide entrepreneurs with access to market research and confidential business advising at no cost.

You don’t need a hundred-page market study to begin.

You do need to know who your customer is.

2. Have You Talked to Potential Customers?

Friends and family saying, “That’s a great idea!” can be encouraging.

It isn’t necessarily market research.

Try talking to people who would actually be potential customers.

Ask what they currently use or buy. Find out what they like and dislike about existing options. Learn what matters most when they make a purchasing decision.

If you’re already operating informally or as a side hustle, pay attention to what your actual customers are telling you.

Which products or services sell?

What questions do customers repeatedly ask?

What do they request that you don’t currently offer?

Real customer behavior can teach you considerably more than guessing what people might want.

3. Do the Numbers Work?

Revenue and profit are not the same thing.

If you sell something for $50, that doesn’t mean you’ve made $50.

Before setting a price, identify the costs associated with delivering your product or service. Depending on the business, those might include materials, supplies, shipping, payment-processing fees, insurance, equipment, transportation, advertising, professional services and your own time.

Then ask a critical question:

Can I charge a price customers will pay and still operate profitably?

Understanding your numbers before you grow can prevent a common small-business problem: creating plenty of work without creating enough income.

This is also why financial planning and recordkeeping matter even when a business is very small.

4. What Needs to Happen Before You Make It Official?

One of the most confusing parts of entrepreneurship can be figuring out what paperwork actually applies to your business.

Indiana’s INBiz portal is the state’s one-stop resource for registering and managing businesses. It provides information about business structures, name availability, registered agents and state filing requirements.

Depending on the type of business, additional tax, licensing, employer or local requirements may also apply. The Indiana Department of Revenue notes that new businesses may need to register for appropriate state tax accounts through INBiz.

That doesn’t mean your first step should automatically be filing an LLC.

Your first step should be understanding which steps apply to your particular business.

Getting good information before filing paperwork can save time, money and frustration later.

5. What’s Your Next Step—not Your Next 50 Steps?

Starting a business can feel overwhelming because entrepreneurs often try to solve every future problem at once.

What should the business be called?

Do I need an LLC?

What about taxes?

Do I need a website?

How do I market it?

Where will I get financing?

Should I open a business bank account?

What records should I keep?

Those are legitimate questions.

They just don’t all have to be answered today.

Instead, identify the next useful step.

Maybe that’s talking with five potential customers.

Maybe it’s calculating the true cost of your product.

Maybe it’s meeting with a business advisor.

Maybe it’s learning what a lender would want to see.

Or maybe you’re ready to formalize a business you’ve already started.

Progress becomes much more manageable when you stop trying to build the entire business at once.

Rush County Entrepreneurs Don’t Have to Figure It Out Alone

If you’re considering starting a business in Rush County, you don’t have to figure everything out on your own.

Rush County ECDC and our regional partners are currently offering another resource specifically for people at this stage.

The Regional Entrepreneurial Pipeline (REaP) is a free workshop series serving new and early-stage entrepreneurs in Rush, Fayette and Henry counties.

REaP is designed for people with a business idea, side hustle, home-based business or young business they want to strengthen. Topics include business readiness, banking and lender expectations, customers, pricing, sales, marketing, business formation, recordkeeping and other practical steps involved in building a business.

Participants can choose the sessions that fit their needs and participate either in person or virtually.

You don’t need to arrive with everything figured out.

That’s the point.

Have an idea you’ve been thinking about?

Visit the Regional Entrepreneurial Pipeline (REaP) page to learn more and register.

Sometimes the difference between an idea that stays an idea and one that becomes a business is simply knowing what to do next.