Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis recently announced awards of $1.8 million in grants to consortia in six states through the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations program.

"Apprenticeship programs are effective pipelines into growing industries,” Solis said. “But too often, these programs are not as accessible to women. The federal grants announced will better connect women with apprenticeships, helping them to gain skills in fields that offer long-term career opportunities."

The grants will support innovative projects that improve the recruitment, hiring, training, employment and retention of women in apprenticeships in industries such as advanced manufacturing, transportation and construction. Within these industries, the grants will fund activities focused on three occupational areas: existing occupations expected to experience primarily an increase in employment demand, existing occupations with significant changes to work and worker requirements, and new and emerging green occupations.

The six grantees are community-based organizations, each of which has formed a consortium with a local Workforce Investment Area and at least one Registered Apprenticeship program sponsor. This consortium-based approach is intended to ensure that women served by WANTO grants have access to a range of supportive services and training, as well as to specific nontraditional employment opportunities.

The six organizations are:

• Action for Boston Community Development Inc., Boston: $300,000


• Chicago Women in Trades, Chicago: $300,000


• Goodwill of North Georgia Inc., Atlanta: $300,000


• Oregon Tradeswomen Inc., Portland, Ore.: $300,000


• West Virginia Women Work, Morgantown, W.Va.: $300,000


• Women In Non Traditional Employment Roles, Los Angeles: $300,000

Each grantee will be required to place at least 50 participants annually and at least 100 participants over the life of the two-year grant into a Registered Apprenticeship program.

The grants are jointly administered by the Labor Department's Women's Bureau and its Employment and Training Administration's Office of Apprenticeship. For information about the department's range of employment and training programs, visit www.doleta.gov.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor