Funds will help retrain over a hundred workers laid off from WestPoint Home in June
 
Today Congresswoman Chellie Pingree announced that Maine is being awarded a $553,237 National Emergency Grant to assist workers affected by the closure of the WestPoint Home manufacturing plant in Biddeford.  Over 150 workers were laid off when the plant, which manufactured blankets, closed this summer.
 
“It is crucial that we do our best to help these skilled workers get back to work,” said Pingree.  “Many of them have been waiting weeks for training services and each day their situations get harder and harder.  Thanks to this funding they’ll get the resources they need.”
 
Awarded by the U.S. Secretary of Labor, National Emergency Grants are used to expand services at the state and local level for workers in response to significant layoffs.  The Maine Department of Labor will administer the funding through Coastal Counties Workforce, which will coordinate programming.
 
Coastal Counties Workforce Executive Director Mike Bourret said the funding will make it possible to serve more WestPoint employees and expand program offerings in York County.
 
“Without this funding it would be hard for us to go forward with training—which also involves getting these workers ready for the classroom,” Bourret said.  “Career retraining is especially important in this case because it would be difficult for them to find another manufacturing job in the area.”
 
These National Emergency Grants are funded by the American Recovery Act, passed by Congress and signed by the President.