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$2.2 Million Federal Grant to Ohio Workers

January 25th, 2008 Posted by Amelia

The U.S. Department of Labor on January 22 announced a grant of almost $2.2 million to assist workers displaced by last fall’s flooding in Ohio.

The $2,199,600 grant, with $1,084,000 released initially, will go to the state of Ohio to help create temporary jobs to aid cleanup and recovery efforts resulting from recent storms and flooding in the state.

Workers who were displaced by the flooding, as well as the long-term unemployed in the area, are eligible for help under the program.

“This $2.2 million grant will provide dislocated Ohio workers with jobs aiding in the cleanup and reconstruction of waterways and repairing other property damage that communities suffered in the storms,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao.

On Sept. 11, 2007, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declared the Ohio counties of Allen, Crawford, Hancock, Hardin, Putnam, Richland and Wyandot eligible for FEMA’s public assistance program. Of these counties, Crawford, Hancock and Putnam have been targeted by the state to receive assistance through this grant.

The grant announced today was awarded to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and will provide workers affected by the recent storms with temporary jobs on projects related to the cleanup and reconstruction of destroyed waterways and lands within the affected communities. Cleanup projects are also being coordinated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure operations adhere to policies designed to prevent the destabilization of stream banks and waterways.

Recent National emergency grants have also benefited workers in Washington State. A grant of $2.1 million went to area workers displaced by deadly Pacific storms on December 1 to December 3, 2007.

The Northwest, including Washington, Oregon and the Canadian Province of British Columbia, was ravaged by a series of Pacific storms between December 1 and December 3, 2007. Winds as high as 139 miles per hour were reported on the Oregon coast and 18 deaths were blamed on the storm systems. Residents were evacuated by the Oregon National Guard. More than 36,000 customers were without power for up to one week.

Also on January 22, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a grant of $1.2 million for Oregon workers displaced by the same storms.

National emergency grants are used in a variety of situations, in addition to natural disasters. Many of the grants go to workers displaced by plant closings or mass layoffs.

In September 2007, a grant of almost $1.1 million was awarded to Missouri workers who were displaced with the closure of the O’Sullivan Industries plant in Lamar, Missouri. In addition, a $250,000 grant was awarded to a new program, SI WORKS, designed to improve worker opportunities and economic development in 20 southern Illinois counties.

Also in September, a $3 million grant went to provide temporary jobs and benefits to workers in parts of Minnesota ravaged by flash floods.

More than 400 workers laid off by Micron Technology, Inc. in Boise, Idaho received assistance through a grant of more than $2 million. The U.S. Department of Labor immediately released $847,538 of the grant to assist workers dislocated by the layoffs. The total grant is for $2,010,277.

“This $2 million grant will provide these Idaho workers with skills training, career counseling and other employment services to help them find and succeed in new jobs,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Labor recently announced a grant of more than $1.2 million to assist some 246 Rhode Island workers who were displaced by layoffs at the Brooks Eckerd corporate offices in Warwick. The layoffs are due to acquisition of Brooks Eckerd by Rite Aid.