News Release
ETA News Release: [December 31, 2003]
Contact Name: Lorette Post
Phone Number: 202-693-3984
Labor Department Awards $6 Million To CompTIA
For High-Tech Training
OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration has awarded two $3 million grants to the Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) Educational Foundation to operate two training projects that will serve about 2,700 incumbent high-tech workers.
"This Administration is committed to helping workers get the training they need to get good paying jobs," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "This $6 million grant will be used to upgrade the skills of workers."
CompTIA, based in Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., will use one of the $3 million grants to upgrade the information technology (IT) skills of 907 workers employed by Allstate, 470 by CitiGroup, 200 by Merrill Lynch and 26 by two small business partners - VanCura and ValCom. Training will be provided at nine locations in Illinois, Colorado, Nevada, Texas, Florida, Missouri and Ohio.
The second grant, also for $3 million, will target 600 workers at MetLife, 450 at IBM, 25 at OTAi and 16 at ComputerLand. It will also serve nine locations in Illinois, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Carolina.
In both projects, partner employers have committed matching funds through release-time salaries while employees are in training. The grantee is also providing matching in-kind staff and program support. Total matching contributions for the two projects is $7.4 million.
"This grant illustrates the kind of workforce development partnerships we are encouraging to address the challenges facing 21st century businesses," said Emily Stover DeRocco, assistant secretary of labor for employment and training. "When businesses identify the skills their workforce needs, educators and our public workforce system can be key players in preparing workers for the highly skilled jobs in high-demand fields."
This grant and others totaling approximately $49 million were awarded competitively to business-led partnerships nationwide to train workers for high-skill, high-tech occupations.
###
U.S. Labor Department releases are accessible on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format upon request (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office. Please specify which news release when placing your request. Call (202) 693-7773 or TTY (202) 693-7755.
