ETA News Release: [February 23, 2005]
Contact Name: Mike Volpe or Eryn Witcher
Phone Number: 202-693-3984 or 693-4676
U.S. Department of Labor Official Joins Houston-Galveston Area Council
to Mark Aerospace Industry Grant
HOUSTON - Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco today joined the Houston-Galveston Area Council for a ceremony to mark the awarding of a $1 million grant to train workers for careers in the aerospace industry. DeRocco was on hand with U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay to commemorate this project with the Aerospace Academy for Engineering and Teacher Education.
"The President's Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry made it clear that strengthening this industry's workforce is a necessary priority," said DeRocco. "There is growing demand for workers trained in aerospace technologies, both in the Houston area and throughout the country. Projects like the one we are highlighting today will prepare U.S. workers for aerospace industry careers and increase incumbent aerospace workers' skills to meet industry needs."
This grant, awarded under the President's High Growth Job Training Initiative, is part of a broader effort to address aerospace worker shortages. The Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration also has been leading an interagency effort to implement the Commission's workforce recommendations in partnership with agencies ranging from NASA and the National Science Foundation to the Department of Commerce and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Today's grant, announced on December 2, 2004, will support the development of curriculum with input from aerospace employers in the design and implementation of in-person and online training programs. Training will be focused on areas of advanced manufacturing and data development, design and information technologies.
Key partners include the Gulf Coast Workforce Board, San Jacinto College, the Aerospace Academy and 23 Houston Area employers, including NASA's Johnson Space Center. Partners in the project have contributed more than $500,000 to the effort.
Through the President's High Growth Job Training Initiative, the Department of Labor has been conducting executive forums with leaders of expanding industries to identify critical workforce gaps and issues. Solutions, like the program being funded in Texas, are then created in cooperation with employers, educational institutions and the public workforce system. For more information, visit www.doleta.gov/BRG/JobTrainInitiative/.
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