This study was undertaken to describe efforts in three states to create customized vocational training for specific client firms as part of economic development efforts. Approximately 70 persons from education, business, and state government were interviewed; documents from the three states (Ohio, South Carolina, and New York) were reviewed; and, at least one week was spent on-site in each of the states to gather data. Some of the major findings and recommendations resulting from the study are the following: (1) programs vary in terms of centralization and use of single or multiple agencies as providers; (2) rapid response to client firm needs through a streamlined decision-making process is needed; (3) eligibility for subsidies varies from state to state; (4) client firms in all three states were highly satisfied with the services they received, and provision of such services was cited as a factor in decisions to locate or expand in the states; (5) facilities and equipment must be up-to-date and flexible to accommodate a wide variety of training programs; (6) firms would have conducted their own training programs in the absence of those created for them, but such programs would have been of lower quality; and (7) a single state agency should be responsible for providing customized vocational education as part of the state's economic development efforts. Major issues raised but not answered by the study include the problem of private versus public responsibility for training, how states can document return on public investments, and how state economic development efforts affect the economic development of other states and the nation. (KC)