For Immediate Release
(202) 224-5653

KOHL ACQUIRES $951,000 IN FEDERAL HELP FOR JANESVILLE GM EMPLOYEE JOB TRAINING

  

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Herb Kohl last night included $951,000 in the FY09 Omnibus Appropriations Bill for Blackhawk Technical College to help General Motors employees and affiliated workers with job training and placement in the wake of GM’s closure of the Janesville plant on December 23, 2008.  Kohl is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and identified this project as his priority for funding.

 

“There is an urgent need to help GM’s former employees get back on their feet. Families are struggling and the whole community has been stung by its largest employer pulling up stakes. This desperately-needed investment will partner Blackhawk Technical College and former Janesville GM employees to retrain these skilled workers and help put more people back to work,” Kohl said.

 

The GM plant shut down on December 23, 2008 directly affecting 1,200 workers. In addition, another 1,200 workers were laid off in related fields including auto suppliers Lear and LSI. The federal funding will help support career and aptitude assessment testing; career and technical education instruction; basic skills or college readinessinstruction; tuition, books, materials, and related fees for educational program enrollment; and job readiness/job placement services. 

 

The Omnibus Appropriations bill, which includes the funding, now goes to the President to be signed into law. 

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