Skills-Based Hiring Training for Small and Midsize Businesses

Competing for talent in today’s market can be challenging. Hiring people with the right skills saves businesses time and money. However, many business owners do not know how to align their hiring process to attract candidates with the necessary skills for open roles.

The ACCE Foundation began training chambers of commerce on skills-based practices in 2022. Our Skills-Based Hiring Activator Training teaches chambers the fundamentals of skills-based hiring and development. It also prepares chambers to work directly with businesses on implementing these practices. Activators go on to provide training through their chambers, helping businesses hire and retain the right talent.

In 2025, the ACCE Foundation began partnering with chambers to offer training directly to employers. This Employer Accelerator helps small and midsize businesses develop a skills-based job description and interview plan for a role that is challenging to fill at their company. This program allows chambers to offer a tangible solution to local talent challenges without investing significant training time and resources. 

Now it’s your opportunity to promote this training and help your community's businesses tackle their talent challenges. We’ve created a ready-to-use promotional toolkit to make it easy for your chamber to market the program. 

It includes:

In exchange for marketing this program, chambers will receive $25 per accelerator participant. Accelerator participants can denote which chamber they are with before the program starts. Send employers here to register.

2026 Employer Accelerator Overview

The Skills-Based Hiring Employer Accelerator for Small and Mid-Sized Businesses covers:

  • Identifying and defining the skills needed for specific roles
  • Writing job descriptions that reflect real competencies
  • Designing a skills-based interview process
  • Selecting candidates based on demonstrated ability
  • Onboarding and developing new hires using skills-based practices

Price: $99 for both 90-minute sessions. This program is open to organizations with 500 or fewer full-time employees. HR staff, hiring managers and/or senior executives are encouraged to participate.

Employer Accelerator Dates and Times (Please select one of the offerings below; content is repeated each training.)

Participants are expected to attend all sessions or review session recordings. All participants can access on-demand learning to reinforce concepts and share takeaways with colleagues.

  • April 
    • Thursday, April 23, 12 – 1:30 p.m. Eastern
    • Thursday, April 30, 12 – 1:30 p.m. Eastern
  • May 
    • Thursday, May 7, 12 – 1:30 p.m. Eastern
    • Thursday, May 14, 12 – 1:30 p.m. Eastern
  • June 
    • Thursday, June 4, 12 – 1:30 p.m. Eastern
    • Thursday, June 11, 12 – 1:30 p.m. Eastern

Send employers here to register. Email [email protected] with questions.