New
Leahy-Secured Workforce Development Funding
To Train Vermonters
For Needs Of
Vermont’s Changing Economy
WILLISTON, Vt. (Monday, June 9) –
Sen. Patrick Leahy announced Monday that he has secured a new
$516,000 federal grant to help Vermont Technical College (VTC)
and the Vermont Workforce Development Council (WDC) match the
needs of Vermont’s employers with new targeted training programs
for Vermonters. Leahy made the announcement with Ty Handy,
president of VTC, and John O’Kane, chair of the WDC, during a
news conference at VTC’s Williston campus.
“Vermont’s future economic progress
depends on a well-trained workforce that is able to adapt to
changing business needs,” said Leahy, a senior member of the
Senate Appropriations Committee who secured the new grant in the
U.S. Department of Labor’s 2008 budget. “Vermont Technical
College and the Vermont Workforce Development Council have
developed a unique partnership that matches local workforce
skills with the needs of Vermont’s business community. By
applying the art of matchmaking to job training, they are making
sure the skills that Vermont businesses want are the skills that
Vermonters have.”
Since 2003, Leahy has secured $1.1
million in federal funding for the VTC/WDC partnership to help
provide more than 1800 hours of job skill training to more than
4400 Vermonters. Beneficiaries of the training program,
including representatives of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters,
Twincraft and Pike Industries, attended Monday’s announcement.
Past funding has enabled the WDC to
work with employers in targeted sectors to identify the present
and future job training needs of a sector through a series of
interviews and investigations which are then presented in
written sector analysis reports. VTC works to turn these
reports into training curriculums for individual companies.
Leahy said the WDC has prepared sector analysis reports on the
healthcare industry, the information technology industry and the
construction industry. The additional funding will enable WDC
and VTC to expand their programming offerings and focus on new
sectors.
“To succeed, working Vermonters
need to sharpen their skills and retrain in order to maintain a
middle class lifestyle,” said Ty Handy, president of Vermont
Technical College. “To compete, Vermont employers need a
reliable supply of this highly-skilled workforce statewide. All
of this is important in the equation for Vermont to maintain the
fabric of our communities and quality of life in every corner of
the state.”
“Being successful in building
Vermont’s future economy depends on having skilled workers
available on demand and at many levels,” said Allen Evans, the
executive director of the Vermont Workforce Development
Council. “Doing so will help our companies compete, expand, and
provide more good job opportunities.”
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