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ETA News Release: [09/12/2003]
Contact Name: Ed
Frank
Phone Number: (202) 693-4676
Labor Department Awards $1.1 Million to Community
Learning Center
Grant is part of High Growth Job Training
Initiative
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Labor today awarded more
than $1.1 million to the Community Learning Center of Tarrant, Texas, to help
workers in the aerospace and aviation industries in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The grant is part of the Administration’s High Growth Job Training
Initiative, a multi-faceted plan to respond to the challenges and needs facing
American businesses.
“This $1.1 million grant is part of the Administration’s
solution to addressing the issue of labor shortages in high-skills technical
positions,” said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. “The training
provided by the grant will not only help workers find and advance in their
jobs, but it will also help the aerospace and aviation industries find the
skilled workers they need for jobs that are available.”
The Center will meet the needs of dislocated and incumbent aerospace and
aviation workers through its Aerospace Industry Training Project (AITP), an
industry-led workforce development approach that addresses the shortage of
qualified workers in the industry. Working in partnership with Lockheed
Martin-Aero and Bell Helicopter-TEXTRON, two of the largest employers in Texas,
the Center and AITP will provide at least 320 dislocated workers with technical
training and employment opportunities. Another 320 incumbent workers will be
provided advanced technical training and upward mobility options.
As part of the High Growth Job Training Initiative, the Labor Department
conducts extensive research to identify expanding industries, convenes forums
with executives and human resource professionals to determine workforce gaps in
the industry and, in partnership with employers, educational institutions and
workforce leaders, develops a plan to address business needs.
“This grant is one solution in an array of solutions to address the
challenges facing 21st Century businesses,” said Emily Stover
DeRocco, assistant secretary of labor for employment and training. “We
want to make the public workforce investment system demand-driven so that
workers are trained for the jobs that employers need to fill.”
The purpose of grants awarded in connection with the High Growth Job
Training Initiative is to support models that demonstrate how a demand-driven
workforce system can more efficiently serve the workforce needs of business,
while also effectively helping workers find good jobs at good wages.
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