ETA News Release: [Dec. 2, 2004]
Contact Name: Lorette Post or Public Affairs
Phone Number: 202-693-3984 or 202-693-4676
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao Announces $2 Million Grant to Train Texas Workers for Advanced Manufacturing Careers
Grant Is Part of $24.2 Million Advanced Manufacturing Training Initiative
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today announced a $2 million grant to train South Texas workers for careers in advanced manufacturing. The grant, awarded to the Lower Rio Grande Valley Workforce Development Board, is part of a $24.2 million advanced manufacturing worker training effort under the President's High Growth Job Training Initiative, a strategic plan to prepare workers for jobs in America's fastest growing industries.
"To excel in the worldwide economy, American workers need skills in the new technologies that are transforming the manufacturing sector," said Secretary Elaine L. Chao. "The $24.2 million we are dedicating to train Texans in advanced manufacturing will help these workers build careers and the region build an even stronger economy."
Together with two of its partners -- South Texas Community College (STCC) and the South Texas Manufacturing Association (STMA) -- the Lower Rio Grande Valley Workforce Development Board will develop a five-year apprenticeship plan. The plan will address local manufacturing industry workforce needs through multiple programs, including tool and die, industrial maintenance and plastics processing. Apprenticeship trainers will be credentialed through the National Institute for Metalworking Skills, and study guides and curriculum will be developed for industrial maintenance, tool and die and the Youth Apprenticeship Career Pathway.
"South Texas manufacturers have expressed the need for adequate training programs so they can expand and remain competitive in an industry in transformation," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco. "This grant will answer that need by filling the human resource pipeline with a strong pool of highly skilled workers ready and able to perform the new tasks inherent in advanced manufacturing."
Key partners will contribute a leveraged amount of $2 million to the project. In addition to STCC and STMA, partners include Brownsville Area Manufacturers Association, Harlingen Manufacturers Association. McAllen Economic Development Corporation, Texas State Technical College, Texas Southmost College, McAllen Independent School District, Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement and the Cameron Workforce Development Board.
Through the President's High Growth Job Training Initiative, the Department of Labor has been conducting executive forums with leaders of expanding industries to identify critical workforce gaps. Solutions, like those found in today's grant, are then created in cooperation with employers, educational institutions and the public workforce system. For more information, please visit http://www.doleta.gov/BRG/JobTrainInitiative/.
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