$15-million dollar grant helps retrain workers and close skills gap
By: Terry Kovarik
Updated: October 10, 2012
"I would have never been able to have the opportunity to go back to school having a mortgage, two kids. You've got to work. You've got to make money," he said.
Now technical colleges are getting additional help from the U.S. Department of Labor. NWTC and other colleges are getting a nearly 15-million dollar grant to build upon successful retraining efforts. During a visit o NWTC, Deputy U.S. Secretary of Labor Seth Harris says such efforts give manufacturers workers with the skills they need, while workers get a brand new start.
"They are ready to make the transition. Not just from one job to another job but from one career to another career," Harris said.
The Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training funds will help three-thousand employees. Joseph Everhard knows it's a good investment for taxpayers.
"It is taxpayer money. So I try to do the best job that I can. I'm just stoked to get out there in May when I graduate," Everhard said.
Deputy Secretary Harris says with 31-months of steady job growth the timing is right for tech school graduates soon to enter the job market.
"That's five-point-two million private sector jobs. That includes almost half a million manufacturing jobs," he said.
Local 5's Terry Kovarik has the story.
