U.S. Recovery Act Awards $100 Million in Green Job Training Grants

Washington, DC — The U.S. government is distributing $100 million in green job training grants to 25 projects throughout the country, including $28 million going to communities impacted by auto industry restructuring.

The grants, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, are supporting projects to help unemployed and dislocated workers, veterans, women and minorities find jobs in green industries. The projects will receive from $1.4 million to $5 million each and were based on partnerships that require labor and business groups to work together.

The education funded by these Energy Training Partnership Grants will be based on the needs by the local communities and will train workers for careers as hybrid/electric auto technicians, weatherization specialists, wind and energy auditors, and solar panel installers.

The $5 million grant for the Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership in Oregon and Washington, for example, will help employed workers at local renewable energy companies as well as unemployed and dislocated workers.

One of the groups served by the $5 million grant going to the Blue Green Alliance in Minnesota is unemployed steelworkers. And the United Auto Workers-Labor Employment and Training Corporation in Missouri was awarded $3.2 million to train veterans, ex-offenders, women and people with disabilities.

The grants were distributed by the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration and are part of a $500 million initiative by the Recovery Act to fund workforce development projects for the energy efficiency and renewable energy industries. Over the coming weeks, the Department of Labor plans to release additional grant funds.

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