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Colorado Dept. of Labor Grants

January 26th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

Two Colorado area community colleges have $2.5 million to spend on worker training. The grants, from the U.S. Dept. of Labor, are to train highly skilled workers for the 21^st century. The Colorado community colleges were recently awarded coveted federal grants totaling almost $2.5 million.

According to U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, “Community colleges are vital partners in educating and preparing workers for good jobs in their local area.”

Schools receiving the Colorado Dept. of Labor grants include Otero Junior College in La Junta, Colorado. The school received $ 998,453 for a new healthcare training program. The second award, of more than $1 million, went to Trinidad State Junior College. The Trinidad, Colorado school received $1,496,673 to train works in the construction and energy industries.

The Colorado Dept. of Labor grants are awarded based on a competition between 429 schools to train highly skilled workers. The grants are just two of more than 100 grants to community colleges and government agencies in a program across the U.S. to train workers for high-demand occupations, including construction, healthcare, advanced manufacturing and energy.

“The $125 million these 72 community college partnerships will receive under the President’s Community-Based Job Training Initiative is going to help workers succeed in careers in health care, advanced manufacturing and other growing industries,” said U. S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.

The purpose of the U.S. Labor Dept. grants is to increase worker skills in the area, especially in high-demand areas such as healthcare. So far, more than 104 grants, including the Colorado Dept. of Labor grants, have been made since the program’s inception in 2005. Highly skilled workers can enter growing industries and contribute to economic success. The community college’s ability to equip workers with the skills that are most in demand is crucial to our nation’s success.