Labor Law Center Blog » Blog Archive » Georgia Unemployment Grant

Georgia Unemployment Grant

June 7th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

Your region can “get WIRED.”

WIRED is the name of a job and economic development grant program now in its third round of competition. Started in February of 2006, the grants, of up to $5 million each per region, target those places in each state and territory that have historically been economically stagnant or suffering from high jobless rates.

A Georgia unemployment grant would be very helpful to the state’s unemployed workers. An Indiana unemployment grant from the second round of competition was recently awarded. It will benefit workers, especially those in the northern part of the state, who have traditionally been forced to watch improving national employment trends pass them by.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao announced the third round recently. The WIRED Initiative, according to Secretary Chao, recognizes that local economies “often do not neatly conform to geographic boundaries.” WIRED brings different organizations together to help prepare workforces by supplying them, she said, with “the skills needed to succeed in the 21st century worldwide economy.” Organizations brought into the mix may be foundations, economic development groups, businesses, community colleges, and universities.

The full name of the program is the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development Initiative. It was established by the Labor Department in February of 2006, starting when it selected 13 regions nationwide to receive the grants designed to jump-start stalled economies. The competition is stiff but the financial benefits are worth the effort. Notification of the fourth round began with letters from Labor Secretary Chao to every governor. Because the grants are regional, each governor is allowed to apply for two grants, each worth $5 million. The regions involved must show other sources of funding they receive. Those sources may be private, state, or regional.

Nationwide, the employment rate is around 4%, considered good by economists, who usually rank anything below 5% as a job shortage. The average jobless rate for positions requiring high skill levels or a college degree is even lower nationwide, around 1.9%.