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ETA News Release: [08/12/2003]
Contact Name: Lorette
Post
Phone Number: (202) 693-3984
Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao Announces $1.5 Million to
High Plains Technology Center
Grant is Part of High Growth Job Training
Initiative
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Labor today awarded $1.5
million to the High Plains Technology Center in Woodward, Okla., to develop and
provide training for gas and oil industry workers. The grant is part of the
Bush Administration’s High Growth Job Training Initiative, a multi-faceted
strategic plan to build a public workforce system that responds to the
challenges facing American businesses with training opportunities for
workers.
“This $1.5 million grant reflects President Bush’s goal of
leaving no worker behind,” said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao.
“This High Growth Job Training Initiative gives unemployed workers the
opportunity to access training that will help them become better qualified for
available jobs. This initiative will help those already employed to advance
further up the career ladder.”
Using the grant, the High Plains Technology Center will work with
One-Stop Career Centers in northwest Oklahoma, southwest Kansas and the Texas
Panhandle. The center will respond to the high turnover and retirement rates in
Oklahoma’s oil and gas industry by preparing 125 new workers for projected
new job openings and another 325 incumbent workers to upgrade their skills.
As part of the High Growth Job Training Initiative, extensive industry
research is conducted to identify expanding industries - gas and oil is one of
the industries presently being studied. Outreach to business executives and
human resource professionals through industry forums determines workforce gaps
in the industry and, in turn, a strategic plan is developed in partnership with
employers, educational institutions and workforce leaders to address business
needs.
The High Plains grant will develop curriculum in consultation with
employers and industry association representatives. Workers will be enrolled in
a suite of courses based on the occupation for which they are being trained,
and bi-lingual training materials will be developed to reach the area’s
growing Hispanic population.
“This grant is one solution in an array of solutions to respond to
the challenges facing 21st century businesses,” said Emily
Stover DeRocco, assistant secretary of labor for employment and training.
“We want to be sure that, at completion of training, workers have good
jobs with advancement opportunity and employers have the skilled workers they
need to succeed.”
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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