Aid for the placement of managers in SMEs - ERDF Notice No. 1/2024

This is a non-reimbursable incentive under the ERDF Programme 2021-2027, aimed at supporting projects that develop the company's specialised skills in the provincial Smart Specialisation Areas (S3) and that provide forthe hiring of a manager by SMEs.

The incentive is governed by theNotice and by the general provisions common to all LP 6/2023 interventions.

Eligible initiatives

To be eligible for the incentive, a project must be submitted relating to at least one of the four areas of the provincial Strategy of Intelligent Specialisation (S3) of Trentino that envisages the hiring of a manager with an employment contract.

The requirements of the Manager are as follows

• he/she must be a highly qualified professional figure, with advanced and specialised skills in thesetting up and/or management of projects for the growth and/or promotion of business competitiveness, innovation, digitalisation, sustainability, etc., in order to strengthen the company's competencies in the areas of specialisation of the provincial S3;
• must have at least five years'professional experience in the activities for which the project is submitted;
• must be employed under an employment contract of indefinite or fixed-term duration of at least two years and in any case of a duration consistent with the term envisaged for the implementation of the project;
• classification of not less than middle management.

Check point 3(b) of theNotice for the definition of "Manager" and point 6 of theNotice for the timetable with timelines.

Eligible expenses and contribution measure

The minimum eligible expenditure is at least EUR 200,000.

The incentive measure is 50% of the eligible expenditure, up to a maximum incentive of EUR 150,000.

Expenditure strictly related to the implementation of the project, as specified below, is eligible:

• gross cost by way of remuneration to be paid by the employer for the employment of the manager, as defined in point 3, letter c of theNotice;
• overheads calculated by applying a flat rate of 7% to the costs referred to in the previous point, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2021/1060.

For more information on eligible expenses go to point 7 of theNotice.

The operating unit active in the province must be duly registered with the Register of Companies by the start date of the initiative (i.e. the date on which the manager's employment contract is signed).

Within 30 days from the date of communication by the examining body of the granting measure, beneficiaries are required to transmit to Trentino Sviluppo, via PEC

• the contract signed with the identified manager
• a service order stipulating that the manager shall carry out his or her professional activities for the implementation of the project funded by the 2021-2027 ERDF Programme, also specifying the project's CUP.

In return for the contribution received, the company must comply with a number of obligations, defined in point 14 of theNotice.

A summary of the main reporting obligations incumbent on beneficiaries of the 2021-2027 ERDF Programme Notices can be found at the following link.

Applications may be submitted by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

• that meet the requirements set out in point 3 paragraph 5 of the general provisions common to all interventions of Provincial Law 6/2023
• that are duly registered and active in the Register of Enterprises no later than 31 December 2023;
• having one of the ATECO codes in Annex 1 to the general provisions common to all the measures of Provincial Law 6/2023, as indicated in the Register of Enterprises (see the list of "excluded" in point 4.1 of theNotice).

For further information see point 4 of theNotice.

Evaluation Criteria

Applications shall be assessed by means of an over-the-counter assessment procedure and scores shall be awarded to projects in accordance with the criteria set out in point 9 of theNotice (general eligibility criteria, specific eligibility criteria, assessment criteria and award criteria).

Applications are admitted if the minimum threshold of at least 60 points is reached.

The examining body is TRENTINO SVILUPPO S.P.A.

Application submission and deadlines

The application can be submitted, also by proxy, from 15:00 on 28 November 2024 by connecting to the portal available below.

All operational instructions for the submission of the incentive application through the platform are available in this manual:

USER MANUAL FOR SUBMITTING APPLICATIONS - SIFESR portal (ERDF Notice 1/2024 Induction of managers in SMEs)

To submit an application, you must have the SPID digital identity system.

PLATFORM TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

Any technical problems related to the use of the platform must be reported by email by writing to assistenzafesrtn@performer.it, specifying name, company tax code, telephone contact and application identification code (if available).
Technical assistance is available from Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (excluding holidays).

See the time schedule under point 6 of thenotice.