News Release
« BackStimulus Funds Available for Education and Training
Thursday, May 21, 2009
As a result of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“the Recovery Act”) and the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), stimulus funds designed for training and education are beginning to emerge from the Department of Labor/ETA. It is critical that the metalworking community actively pursue these funding sources and opportunities. By aligning adult education, occupational job training, apprenticeships, on-the-job training, career advancement activities and supportive services with economic and community workforce development strategies, employer skill demands and the needs of unemployed, underemployed and dislocated workers are simultaneously met.
Local workforce boards (WIA) are being directed to collaborate with local community colleges and other training/education providers, registered apprenticeship programs, employers, manufacturers, trade associations and labor organizations to enable job seekers and incumbent workers to re-skill and upgrade existing skills to compete in a changing world in order to maintain a vibrant middle class.
Recovery Act (stimulus) funds are available for:
-Competency-based occupational skills training
-Structured on-the-job training
-Programs that blend workplace training with related technical instruction
-Developing 21st Century apprenticeship programs
-Curriculum development
-Job readiness training
-Skill upgrade, retraining and advancement
-Literacy training
-Customized training
In utilizing the funding in the Recovery Act, federal, state and local levels of the workforce system are guided by three principles: 1) Transparency and accountability, 2) Timely spending of funds and implementation of activities/programs, and 3) Increasing workforce system capacity.
Of particular interest to the metalworking industry are the WIA Adult Program and the WIA Dislocated Worker Program. States, WIA boards, MEPs, community colleges, employer organizations and employers are being strongly encouraged to spend Recovery Act funding quickly and effectively.
How can your company take advantage of this opportunity? Get over to your local community college, or contact your Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), your local WIA Board, OneStop or community workforce or economic development organization and search out these funds. Be persistent! States have flexibility regarding where to position these funds and the protocol to access and disperse them. These are YOUR tax dollars at work—it is time to “recover” these funds and use them effectively and expeditiously for the benefit of the industry!
The PMA Educational Foundation (PMAEF) is positioned to assist you, your MEP and/or community college in designing and developing education and training programs to meet the present and future needs of the great American workforce. PMAEF can provide or develop curriculum, structure competency-based skill progressions and on-the-job learning programs, train your on-the-job trainers, provide instructional resources and materials, custom design training programs and activities, implement or upgrade apprenticeships, redesign and cross-train your workforce, assist in new hire screening and assessment practices, and promote careers and advanced opportunities in the metalworking industry. So, if your community college, MEP or other approved education provider needs resources, expertise or assistance, PMAEF can fill those gaps. For more information, visit www.workingsolutions4u.org or contact Bruce Broman.
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