As used in this part:

1. (1) “Basic skills training” means training in those math, reading, English, communication (listening, oral, and written) and computer literacy skills that a person can reasonably be expected to have attained by the end of the twelfth grade, except in the instance of potential new workforce training;

2. (2)

   1. (A) “Classroom training” means instructor-led training that is provided outside of the process of the production of goods or the delivery of a service.
   2. (B) It means the simultaneous delivery of training by a trainer to a group of trainees.

   3. (C) Classroom training is usually delivered in an instructional setting removed from the plant floor or laboratory and does not include training delivered via:

      1. (i) On-the-job training; or
      2. (ii) A self-paced mode;
3. (3) “Company” means a business currently operating in the state that has filed an Arkansas corporate income tax return for the year prior to the year in which the application was submitted and meets eligibility criteria;

4. (4)

   1. (A) “Consortium” means a group of companies which includes at least three (3) eligible companies, as defined in 6 CAR § 445-103 and for fiscal purposes is either a private, not-for-profit corporation or is an organized group that has:

      1. (i) A coordinating board or committee;
      2. (ii) A mission statement; and
      3. (iii) Bylaws and a bank account requiring at least two (2) consortium member signatures.
   2. (B) Consortia may have members that are not eligible companies as long as at least three (3) of the consortium member companies are eligible companies.
   3. (C) To receive the maximum amount of financial assistance, at least fifty percent (50%) of the participants completing each course must be employees of eligible companies;

5. (5)

   1. (A) “Consumable materials and supplies” means training materials, including textbooks, which are provided to each student and trainer and will not be reused in future training sessions.
   2. (B) This does not include the purchase of equipment or food and drinks;

6. (6)

   1. (A) “Corporate headquarters” means the facility or portion of a facility where corporate staff employees are physically employed, and where the majority of the company’s financial, personnel, legal, planning, information technology, or other headquarters-related functions are handled either on a regional basis or national basis.
   2. (B) These facilities include establishments primarily engaged in administering, overseeing, and managing other establishments of the company or enterprise as classified in sector 551114 of the North American Industry Classification System.
   3. (C) A corporate headquarters must be a regional corporate headquarters or a national corporate headquarters;
7. (7) “County or state average hourly wage” means the weighted average weekly earnings for Arkansans in all industries, both statewide and countywide, as calculated by the Division of Workforce Services in its most recent annual Covered Employment and Earnings publication, divided by forty (40);
8. (8) “Customized industry-specific training” means training that is developed and/or customized to meet the specific needs of the company;
9. (9) “Director” means the Director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission;

10. (10) “Distribution center” means a facility for the reception, storage, and shipping of:

    1. (A) A business’s own products or products that the business wholesales to retail businesses or ships to its own retail outlets if seventy-five percent (75%) of the sales revenues are from out of state;
    2. (B) Products owned by other companies with which the business has contracts for storage and shipping if seventy-five percent (75%) of the sales revenues of the product owner are from out-of-state customers; or
    3. (C) Products for sale to the general public if seventy-five percent (75%) of the sales revenues are from out-of-state customers;
11. (11) “Eligible recipients” means a full-time, permanent employee of an Arkansas company or consortium who is subject to the Arkansas personal income tax;
12. (12) “Full-time, permanent employee” for the purposes of this program, means a person working at an Arkansas company who works at least thirty (30) hours per week;

13. (13) “Governing council” means the directors, or their designees, of the:

    1. (A) Arkansas Economic Development Commission;
    2. (B) Division of Higher Education; and
    3. (C) Division of Career and Technical Education;

14. (14)

    1. (A) “Instructional hour” means the unit of time devoted to the delivery of training to a group of trainees that is used in the calculation of the allowable reimbursement.
    2. (B) An instructional hour is sixty (60) minutes in length, including breaks, and relates to training delivered in a classroom setting only.
    3. (C) It is not relevant to training delivered via on-the-job training or to training delivered via a self-paced mode;

15. (15)

    1. (A) “Intermodal facility” means a facility with more than one (1) mode of interconnected movement of freight or commerce.
    2. (B) All businesses in this group shall derive at least seventy-five percent (75%) of their sales revenue from out of state;

16. (16)

    1. (A) “Internal training” means classroom training provided to company employees by company trainers that may be either full-time employees of the company or consultants paid by the company.
    2. (B) Support for internal training can only be in the form of an income tax credit;
17. (17) “National corporate headquarters” means the sole corporate headquarters in the nation that handles headquarters-related functions on a national basis;
18. (18) “Nonretail business” means a business that derives less than ten percent (10%) of its total Arkansas revenue from sales to the general public;

19. (19) “Office sector business” means:

    1. (A) Business operations that support primary business needs, including, but not limited to:

       1. (i) Customer service;
       2. (ii) Credit accounting;
       3. (iii) Telemarketing;
       4. (iv) Claims processing; and
       5. (v) Other administrative functions; and
    2. (B) All businesses in this group must be nonretail businesses and derive at least seventy-five percent (75%) of their sales revenue from out of state;

20. (20)

    1. (A) “Partnership” means a group of eligible companies that identifies a common training need and arranges for a class or series of classes to meet this need without forming a formal consortium.

    2. (B)

       1. (i) In this case, one (1) company serves as the fiscal agent for the group and a single application is submitted for the identified class or classes which meet the needs of the group.

       2. (ii) The fiscal agent would assume fiscal responsibility for:

          1. (a) (a) Collecting each participating company’s share of the training cost;
          2. (b) (b) Paying the training provider; and
       3. (c) (c) Maintaining the required records and receipts required by the Arkansas Existing Workforce Training Program.
    3. (C) Unlike consortia, partnerships cannot include ineligible companies;
21. (21) “Potential new workforce” means two (2) or more eligible companies with common job skill requirements requiring a minimum of fifteen (15) new employees and conducting a minimum of fifteen (15) hours of preemployment training, thereby allowing prospective employees and employers an opportunity to evaluate each other before making employment commitments;

22. (22)

    1. (A) “Prerequisite literacy skills” means those basic skills needed in order to learn the content of a given training course.
    2. (B) Necessary prerequisite skills will vary depending on the course and should generally be determined using a test suited to the purpose;
23. (23) “Region” or “regional” means a geographic area comprising two (2) or more states including this state;

24. (24) “Regional corporate headquarters” means a site that:

    1. (A) Is the sole corporate headquarters within the region; and
    2. (B) Handles headquarters-related functions on a regional basis;

25. (25) “Scientific and technical services business” means a business:

    1. (A) Primarily engaged in performing scientific and technical activities for others, including:

       1. (i) Architectural and engineering design; and
       2. (ii) Computer programming and computer systems design;
    2. (B) Selling expertise;
    3. (C) Having production processes that are almost wholly dependent on worker skills; and
    4. (D) Deriving at least seventy-five percent (75%) of their sales revenue from out of state;

26. (26) “Skills upgrade training” means new skills and knowledge development necessary to:

    1. (A) Enhance productivity;
    2. (B) Improve performance; and
    3. (C) Make the company more competitive;
27. (27) “State-supported educational institution” means a secondary or post-secondary Arkansas educational institution that receives the majority of its funding from state or local tax revenues except that, for purposes of this rule, Texarkana College may be considered a state-supported educational institution for the purpose of delivering training services to eligible companies located in Miller County, Arkansas, provided Texarkana College continues to waive out-of-state tuition for residents of Arkansas; and

28. (28)

    1. (A) “Training consultant” means a person whose primary source of income comes from charging clients for the delivery of customized training or a person who has formed a business, is a partner in a business, or works for a business whose primary purpose is to provide customized training to clients.
    2. (B) The use of training consultants in this program is to be initiated only by a state-supported educational institution or an Arkansas Economic Development Commission representative.