Friday, June 29, 2007
Contact: Jessica Robinson, 573-751-0290
Blunt Awards Innovative Worker Training Grants
JEFFERSON CITY– Gov. Matt Blunt announced the award of nearly $5 million in regional workforce grants in the second round of his Skilled Workforce Initiative.
The initiative takes a collaborative, performance-based approach to provide targeted workforce development solutions for businesses and workers across Missouri. This year's Skilled Workforce Initiative will continue several innovative and successful programs initiated last year as well as launch 27 new innovative projects, increasing the state's competitive advantage in retention and recruitment of quality, family supporting careers.
"Missouri's economy has dramatically improved over the last two and half years with Missourians adding more than 94,000 new jobs since January 2005," Blunt said. "This forward momentum can only continue if the knowledge and talent of Missouri's citizens remain competitive in today's economy. The Skilled Workforce Initiative has proven successful in connecting business and industry's human capital needs with strategies and programs that address their workforce shortages. I am enthusiastic about the innovative approaches outlined in this year's applications and anticipate strong results."
The Skilled Workforce Initiative is funded through the federal Workforce Investment Act. Missouri's 14 Local Workforce Investment Boards administer the funding on behalf of local partnerships in their area. Blunt praised the regional partnerships formed through the initiative, lauding the participation of business and industry, labor, education, workforce and economic development entities. Community partners have joined in supporting this initiative and are leveraging over $3.8 million in local resources.
The Skilled Workforce Initiative consists of four components: Talent Acquisition and Development; Business Retention Services; Entrepreneurial Training and Support and One Stop Career Center Enhancements. Proposals were competitively solicited from the Local Workforce Investment Boards and scored based on specific criteria: project design and innovation; strategic partnerships; planned performance outcomes and budget sustainability.
It is anticipated that nearly 6,000 Missourians and 1,600 employers will benefit from the support and training services offered under this initiative. It is envisioned that this initiative will help Missourians reduce their dependence on public programs through employment and will prevent crime by addressing unemployment, underemployment and lack of basic workplace readiness. The initiative also provides technical training in growth occupations that allows Missourians to move towards family-supporting career pathways.
Skilled Workforce Initiative is administered by the Department of Economic Development's Division of Workforce Development and builds on labor market research and analysis conducted by Missouri's Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC). MERIC provides a variety of workforce information products, including Regional Skills Gap Analysis reports that identify critical labor and skills gaps, enabling stakeholders to better understand and address workforce development challenges.
This initiative also builds on Governor Blunt's successful Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) grants which are designed to make significant improvements to workforce development and economic transformation through strategic regional alliances. Recently, Blunt and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius worked together in the Kansas City region to secure a $15 million grant for the OneKC Wired Initiative. Blunt also worked to receive another $5 million WIRED grant for the Southeast Missouri region.