FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

The Treasury Department announced today that the Community Adjustment and Investment Program (CAIP) of the North American Development Bank approved a $1 million loan to the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce Foundation to develop a one-stop employment training service center.

The loan will be used to build and maintain the Center for Workforce Preparedness in El Paso, TX, which will offer in-take assessment, basic skills training and vocational and entrepreneurial training and support. The 96,000 square foot Center will be located in a former Levi's plant, acquired by the El Paso Chamber of Commerce to aid the unemployed, including former Levi's employees. It will house training facilities and classrooms, "flex space" which can be rented to local businesses as small business incubators and/or temporary training and recruitment space, office space for the Texas Workforce Commission and other city and state programs that aid displaced workers.

El Paso was recently designated as an Empowerment Zone, making it a leading candidate for the relocation of national corporations. The Center for Workforce Preparedness will play a key role in fostering increased employment in the region by ensuring the availability of a trained and qualified workforce.

The CAIP encourages and fosters economic opportunities within communities that have experienced temporary job displacements related to implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. To date, the program has facilitated more than $165 million in loans and loan guarantees helping to create or preserve over 5,600 jobs.