1) Overview: The Okayama Professional Human Resources Acquisition Support Subsidy is granted by the Governor of Okayama Prefecture within budget limits to subsidize costs incurred by businesses in the prefecture to utilize professional human resources, with the goal of strengthening the management base of prefectural businesses and contributing to the growth of the local economy. Eligible cases are those where employment, side-job or concurrent engagement at a prefectural business has been decided through intermediation by Okayama's Professional Human Resources Strategy Hub in cooperation with private HR business operators. 2) Eligible Applicants: Applicants must be SMEs or mid-tier enterprises as defined by the Industrial Competitiveness Enhancement Act, with a head office or principal office in the prefecture. For the HR acquisition stream, applicants must be companies (or special yugen-kaisha) under the Companies Act and registered employment-insurance employers. For the side-job stream, individual sole proprietors registered with a prefectural tax office are also eligible. Companies controlled by large enterprises (>=1/2 single shareholder, >=2/3 combined, >=1/2 board overlap) are excluded, as are entities with unpaid prefectural taxes, organized-crime affiliates, and cases where the recruited person is within 3 degrees of kinship to an officer. 3) Eligible Expenses: For the HR acquisition stream: brokerage fees paid to private HR business operators for the recruitment. For the side-job stream: (1) brokerage fees (up to 3 months from contract start), (2) travel and lodging costs for the recruited person to visit the prefectural office in person (up to 3 months, excluded if single round trip is under JPY 10,000; lodging capped at JPY 10,000/night; meals excluded), and (3) remuneration paid under the employment or service contract (up to 3 months, performance-based pay excluded). 4) Subsidy Rates, Caps, Schedule and Application: Subsidy rate is 1/2 for HR acquisition and 4/5 for the side-job stream. Caps are JPY 1,000,000 for HR acquisition and a total of JPY 470,000 for the side-job stream (JPY 150,000 fees + JPY 200,000 travel/lodging + JPY 120,000 remuneration). Eligible expenses must be paid between the grant decision date and end of February of the fiscal year. Applications are filed with the Governor on Form 1 plus business plan on Form 2 and may be submitted electronically. Performance reports are due within 30 days of cost finalization or by March 10, whichever is earlier.