|
 Printer-Friendly Version
OPA News Release: [04/02/2002]
Contact Name: Elissa
Pruett
Labor Grants Will Aid Dislocated Iowa
Workers Chao Announces
Two National Emergency Grants Totaling Over $450,000
To
Supplement Re-employment Programs
WASHINGTON— U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao announced
two National Emergency Grants totaling more than $450,000 to aid over 200
workers laid off from International Paper in Clinton, Iowa and Rockwell Collins
Company in Bellevue, Decorah and Manchester. National Emergency Grants are part
of the secretary’s discretionary fund. A grant is awarded after a state
submits a request and the grant guidelines have been met.
“The president and I are committed to getting Iowa’s displaced
workers the job and skills training they need to find re-employment,” Chao
said. “I hope these funds will be deployed right away to get Iowans back
to work.”
Eastern Iowa Community College will operate the International Paper
grant, totaling $231,000. The Rockwell Collins Company workers will receive
$228,233 in aid through the Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission in
Postville, the East Central Intergovernmental Association in Dubuque and the
Eastern Iowa Community College in Davenport. The programs will supplement
existing re-employment programs including: job search assistance, job
development, job placement, basic skills training and counseling. Workers will
be trained in many different areas including electronics, business, computer
science, nursing, medical certificate programs, truck driving, and
refrigeration/air conditioning positions.
“Helping American workers who have lost their jobs remains a top
priority for this administration,” said Chao. “The president and I
believe temporary assistance for displaced workers will help the economy grow
quickly and create more desirable and secure jobs.”
Last month, President Bush submitted his supplemental budget request to
Congress that would invest another $750 million in worker retraining efforts,
including another $550 million for the National Emergency Grant program,
restoration of the $110 million rescission of federal funds for dislocated
worker programs, $50 million to support a Targeted High-Growth Job Training
Initiative, and $40 million in additional funding for the Department of
Commerce Community Adjustment Program, which coupled with National Emergency
Grants, will help communities develop a “road map” for long-term
economic recovery and job creation.
The president also signed the Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act,
extending unemployment benefits for up to 13 weeks through 2002, giving states
$8 billion in additional funds to improve unemployment benefits and services
and providing new tax incentives to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.
For more information on the Department of Labor’s unemployment and
re-employment programs please go to www.dol.gov.
# # #
_________________________________________________________________
| 
