Utah Unemployment Grant

March 28th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

The US Dept. of Labor recently began accepting proposals for a third generation of the highly competitive WIRED grants. The previous wave of grants awarded by WIRED, including the $5 million recently awarded to Northern California, exceeded $65 million.

A Utah unemployment grant would be great news for workers, particularly in parts of the state that have traditionally experienced higher unemployment. This program is called Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development Initiative, but almost universally referred to as WIRED grants.

The WIRED initiative has a proven record of success with the programs it has developed to improve the economic performance in historically underperforming areas such as Northern California. In the first round of WIRED grants, $195 million was awarded to 13 regions around the country including the Mississippi/Arkansas Delta region, the Application region, the Delaware Valley, Northern California, Northern Indiana and Northern Alabama. These areas now enjoy an improved economic outlook and lower rates of unemployment as a result of the WIRED grants they received in recent years. These areas of distressed economy were identified by state governors supplying competitive data for regions within their states.

Secretary Chao has said, “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.” As with previous WIRED grants, competition is keen. Proposals for WIRED grants must have the state governor’s approval. Each governor received a letter from Secretary Chao about the competition. Governors may submit up to two proposals, for grants up to $5 million each. Competing regions must identify sources of state, regional, and private funding to complement the Labor Department’s investment.

Through WIRED, the department has invested $260 million in 26 regions throughout the country. The program and has facilitated cooperation between 10 federal agencies, sparking synergy to create high skill and high wage job opportunities for American workers in regional economies.

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Utah Unemployment Grant Update

March 11th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

US Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao recently announced plans to improve the outlook and employment prospects for poorly trained and unemployed workers in The Wasatch Range area of Utah by getting WIRED.

This Utah unemployment grant goes by the acronym WIRED. The Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) initiative provides federal grant money to help struggling regional economies train workers and stabilize poor economies. The initiative is funded by the Employment and Training Administration within the jurisdiction of the US Department of Labor.

Since our last report, officials in the region have been hard at work preparing a detailed plan to reduce Utah unemployment through worker training. Once the plan is finished, the Utah WIRED program will be awarded the balance of the $5 million.

“Investing in area workforces through this collaborative approach will boost entire regions’ economic vitality,” said Chao recently when announcing The Wasatch Range area of Utah’s unemployment grant of $5 million. “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 Wasatch Range area of Utah has long been plagued with high unemployment rates and poor economic performance. The WIRED unemployment grant announced by Secretary Chao will provide a total of $5 million to train workers in this region. The WIRED grant to The Wasatch Range area of Utah provides an initial gift of $500,000 for immediate worker training and the remaining $4.5 million is to be funded once a regional implementation plan is finalized.

Workers in The Wasatch Range area of Utah are expected to benefit from the WIRED initiative by means of improved training more compatible with today’s technologically advanced workplace, lowered unemployment rates, and a better stabilized local economy more in keeping with today’s global economy.

The $5 million WIRED grant that The Wasatch Range area of Utah was awarded is part of a $65 million program to improve the economies of troubled areas throughout the US by training workers to be more competitive in today’s technologically advanced work force. The first group of WIRED grants totaled $195 million and was distributed to struggling economic locales in 13 different regions. These WIRED initiative grants are awarded based upon competition by state governors overseeing these regions of economic struggle.

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Utah Unemployment Grant

January 25th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

Did you ever wish the feds would just give you half a million dollars to upgrade your skills in any way that you wish? Many unemployed workers have had that fantasy. Now, it’s coming true for unemployed workers in the Wasatch Range area of Utah.

A Utah unemployment grant was recent announced to aid the Wasatch Range area. The grant, under the WIRED program, is an attempt by the U.S. Labor Department’s Employment and Training Administration to help struggling regional economies. 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 to use in any worker-training program they like.

Part of the WIRED effort, the recent program includes a Utah unemployment grant of up to $5 million to train workers in the Wasatch Range area of Utah. “Investing in area workforces through this collaborative approach will boost entire regions’ economic vitality,” U. S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao said when announcing a recent Utah unemployment grant.

Technically, the program’s name is the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development initiative, although it is usually referred to by the initials WIRED. WIRED is a program conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor to improve the economy in troubled regions by training workers.

The Wasatch Range was chosen as one of several areas to receive second round WIRED grants. Under this federal program, the Wasatch Range area will use the Utah unemployment grant to improve the area economy by training unemployed workers for better jobs. In total, this second round of WIRED grants will exceed $65 million. The first group of WIRED grants awarded $195 million to 13 regions. WIRED has proven highly successful in recent years in improving an area’s unemployment. The grants are awarded based on a competition involving the state governors. 

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