Skills Development: 50 million for the training of SMEs in Southern Italy

Notice deadline: o dal 21 April to 23 June 2026

The MIMIT: with a financial endowment of 50 million to train staff of SMEs in Southern Italy

Skills Developmentis an aid scheme intended for SMEs located in the Basilicata regions, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Sardinia and Sicily, for the acquisition, also with a view to strengthening the supply chains to which they belong, of services aimed at developing and increasing the skills of the relevant employees.

The objective is to enable them to face the challenges and seize the opportunities related to technological innovation and the green and digital transition.

The overall financial endowment of the instrument is50 millions of euros for the Action 1.4.1“Development of a qualified workforce that is able to seize the opportunities arising from the dual green and digital transition within companies” envisaged within the Specific Objective 1.4 of the National Research Program, Innovation and Competitiveness for the green and digital transition 2021-2027 (PN RIC 2021-2027).

The benefits are granted on the basis of a ranking evaluation procedure. A share equal to 40% of the resources is intended to support businesses operating in theautomotive supply chain and in thefashion supply chain, of textiles and furnishings.

To those who turn

Concessions are granted tomicro, small and medium -sized enterprises (PMI) located in the regionsBasilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Sardinia and Sicily that on the date of submission of the application they must:

• be duly constituted, registered and "active" in the business register;
• be in the full and free exercise of their rights, not be in voluntary liquidation and not be subject to insolvency proceedings;
• have at least one balance sheet approved and filed with the Companies Registry. In the case of individual businesses and partnerships, at least one tax return must have been submitted;
• do not fall among the companies that have received e, subsequently, not refunded or deposited in a blocked account, aid identified as illegal or incompatible by the European Commission;
• be up to date with the repayment of sums due in relation to provisions for the revocation of benefits granted by the Ministry;
• do not operate in the sectors excluded from the article 7 of the Regulation (UE) 2021/1058;
• be in compliance with the obligations set out in the article 1 of the decree-law 31 March 2025, n. 39, published in the Official Gazette n.75 of 31 March 2025, bearing “Urgent measures regarding catastrophe risk insurance”.

What to finance

Initiatives aimed at acquiring training courses aimed at developing or consolidating the skills of employees in the context of strategic issues for technological transition are eligible for benefits., digital and green businesses. Training initiatives, adhering to the characteristics covered by the measure, can also be presented in the context of supra-regional integrated projects, if the integration allows the proposing companies to realize actual advantages in relation to the activity covered by the training initiative, also with a view to developing the relevant supply chain. The supra-regional integrated project may include initiatives relating to staff training courses presented by a maximum of 10 businesses.

The training courses must:

• foresee eligible costs not less than 10 thousand euros and not exceeding 60 thousand euros. In the case of supra-regional integrated projects these limits are intended to refer to the individual beneficiary participating in the supra-regional integrated project which may include initiatives relating to staff training courses presented by a maximum of 10 businesses;
• be carried out within one or more local units, located in the territories of the Basilicata regions, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Sardinia and Sicily;
• be provided by qualified individuals/managers or by consultancy companies/providers of training and consultancy services independent of the proposing company, in possession of significant and proven experience in the field of National Smart Specialization Strategy and/or digitalisation and/or ecological transition, demonstrable through the list of projects carried out at least in the last few 3 years in the subjects covered by the consultancy;
• be the subject of a contract signed after the submission of the benefit application;
• be started by 6 months from the date of granting the benefit and conclude within a maximum 12 months from the same date, subject to any further extension 6 months;
• have as its subject one or more of the following topics:
  • technological trajectories of National smart specialization strategy;
  • knowledge, use and dissemination of technologies identified by the STEP regulation;
  • green and digital transition processes.

Areas of intervention permitted

Training initiatives that address one or more of the following areas of intervention are eligible for benefits:

• Aerospace and Defense;
• Salute, diet, quality of life;
• Smart and sustainable industry, energy and environment;
• Turismo, cultural heritage and creative industry;
• Digital Agenda, Smart Communities, intelligent mobility systems;
• Digital technologies;
• Clean and resource-efficient technologies;
• Biotechnology;
• Green and digital transition processes.

Eligible expenses

The following cost items are eligible for concessions:

1. personnel costs relating to trainers for the hours of participation in training;
2. operating costs relating to trainers and training participants directly linked to the training project, such as travel expenses, accommodation costs, materials and supplies directly relevant to the project, the depreciation of tools and equipment to the extent that they are used exclusively for the training project;
3. the costs of consultancy services strictly connected to the training initiative;
4. personnel costs relating to the training participants for the hours during which the participants followed the training.

The expenses are considered eligible, according to the article 53, comma 1, of the Regulation (UE) n. 1060/2021, on the basis ofsimplified cost options that they hire, in case, the form of unit costs.

The concessions: Concessions are granted, pursuant to and within the limits of de minimis regulation, in the form of a direct contribution to expenses, to the extent equal to 50% of eligible expenses. In the case of supra-regional integrated projects, the direct contribution to the expense is increased by 20 percentage points for micro and small businesses and 10 percentage points for medium-sized companies. The benefits can be cumulated with other State aid within the limits established by the European regulations on reference State aid.

Submission of applications only electronically in the specific section of the website of the managing body Invitalia