labor lawAdivision of labor law center

As you may know, the US Department of Labor recently announced its plans to award grants totaling $65 million in an effort to revitalize the economy in various areas throughout the country. These grants fall under the jurisdiction of a program referred to as the WIRED (Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development) initiative.

Here’s the update on the Tennessee unemployment grant. This money is earmarked for use in the state’s southern region. The first $500,000 was used to prepare a detailed plan for worker training in Tennessee. Once that plan is approved by the US Department of Labor, the remaining $4.5 million will be released.

The US Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration is responsible for the awarding and distribution of this grant money. The original WIRED grants totaled $195 million and were awarded to 13 regions. These regions were identified and selected based upon competitive information provided by each state’s governor.

These grants are designed to train the workforce in areas where the economy is historically poor and untrained workers are struggling to adapt to today’s technologically advancing workforce and the impact of a more global economy. According to Elaine Chao, US Secretary of Labor, “This regional economic development strategy transcends political boundaries to better leverage a region’s assets to help workers succeed in the 21st century worldwide economy.”

The current round of grants totals $65 million and a generous portion of this grant money has been awarded to Southwestern Tennessee. This region of Tennessee has long been characterized as one of high unemployment rates and poor economic performance. In its efforts to improve the economic outlook in this region, the WIRED initiative is awarding Southwestern Tennessee a total of $5 million.

This $5 million grant will be awarded in two phases. The first allocation of funds to Southwestern Tennessee will be earmarked for the establishment of a plan of implementation. Once this implementation plan has been established, the remaining $4.5 million will be awarded for training workers in Southwestern Tennessee.

“Investing in area workforces through this collaborative approach will boost entire regions’ economic vitality,” says Secretary Chao of this $5 million training grant to Southwestern Tennessee. Workers here are expected to receive training that will improve their job skills, minimize the high unemployment rate, and stabilize the local economy.

The U. S. Department of Labor recently announced that many Tennessee workers are among those to benefit from a grant of up to $65 million. Under the program, the Southern Tennessee area will use the grant to improve Tennessee unemployment and the area economy by training employees.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao said, “Investing in area workforces through this collaborative approach will boost entire regions’ economic vitality.” U. S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao announced the grant.  Part of the WIRED effort includes a recent Tennessee unemployment grant of up to $5 million to train workers in the southern Tennessee area. The grant includes an initial gift of $500,000 for training in the region. After a regional implementation plan is prepared, the region will be given an additional $4.5 million grant.

The first group of WIRED grants awarded $195 million to 13 regions WIRED has a proven record of accomplishment. The grants are awarded based on a competition involving the state governors.  In total, this second round of WIRED grants will exceed $65 million. Technically, the program is the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development initiative, although it is universally called WIRED. WIRED is a program conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor to improve the economy in troubled regions by training workers.

The most recent WIRED program of up more than $4.5 million dollars is a Tennessee unemployment grant to help workers in Tennessee’s Southern region. WIRED addressed underperforming area economies by training workers. The region has long suffered high unemployment and poor economic performance.

“This regional economic development strategy transcends political boundaries to better leverage a region’s assets to help workers succeed in the 21st century worldwide economy,” Secretary of Labor Chao adds. The Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development program is an attempt by the U.S. Labor Department’s Employment and Training Administration to help struggling regional economies in several areas.