Harder Announces $1.2 Million Grant Anticipated to Create 100 Valley Jobs

WASHINGTON – Today, Representative Josh Harder announced that Opportunity Stanislaus will receive a $1.2 million grant to help establish VOLT on the Go, a mobile workforce development program designed to provide manufacturing job training to workers in the Central Valley. The grant is funded by the American Rescue Plan, which Rep. Harder voted to pass last year.The grant will be matched by $326,120 in local funds and is expected to create 100 new jobs.  

“I’m proud to bring home this investment in our workers which will help create 100 new jobs right here in the Central Valley,” said Rep. Harder. “We already have the brightest and most talented workers in the country. Now it’s time to make sure they have a great paying job close to home.”  

This new program is an expansion of Opportunity Stanislaus’ Valley Occupational Learning and Technology (VOLT) Institute. VOLT on the Go builds on the success of the VOLT Institute by taking similar hands-on, vocational workforce training programs to San Joaquin and Merced Counties.VOLT on the Go will be easily accessible and available at job sites, community centers, or other rural parts of the Valley, eliminating barriers that have kept people and companies who are located further away from taking advantage of these training opportunities.

Volt on the Go will upskill manufacturing employees in outlying areas, preparing them for better jobs and higher wages while providing foundational training courses to unemployed or significantly underemployed individuals looking to enter manufacturing. Opportunity Stanislaus estimates, through Economic Modeling Specialist International (EMSI) economic data, that VOLT on the Go trainings could increase entry-level salaries for maintenance mechanics by over $31,000 a year per person. This training program will also grow the manufacturing industry by an estimated $3 million per year and the local economy will grow by over an estimated $5 million per year.

Read more about Stanislaus Business Alliance’s Valley Occupational Learning and Technology (VOLT) Institute online here.

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