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 