February 12, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Four hundred workers affected by the closing of Chilton Products located in Chilton, of the Tecumseh Power Company in New Holstein, and of the Brillion Iron Works in Chilton, will receive job counseling and training funded by a $1,219,747 grant, U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao told Rep. Tom Petri in a Monday afternoon phone call.

The funds will be provided to the state government which will, in turn, pass them on to the Fox Valley Workforce Development Board located in Neenah. The FVWDB is a non-profit organization that serves as one of the workforce investment boards established by the 1998 Federal Workforce Investment Act.

The Board's Executive Administrator said that the funds would help to offset previous budget cuts. "This is exciting and we are glad to get the news," she said.

Petri said, "We can't guarantee that our jobs will always be there for as long as we want them, but we can help people make the transition to new jobs. It's very important that we do what we can to turn the challenges of job loss into opportunities, and that's what we are doing here."