Green jobs grants for California

The U.S. Department of Labor doled out nearly $5.5 million in grants for green-jobs training today, with more than a dozen awards scattered throughout California.

The funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will support job-training and labor-market information programs to help workers find jobs in green industries and related occupations, said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis.

The Recovery Act has $500 million planned for green-jobs training grants.

Today’s grants, to be administered by the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, were given out in two categories -- $48.8 million for state labor-market information improvement and $5.8 million in green capacity building.

The information-improvement grants will go toward collecting and distributing information and squeezing out more space within the infrastructure for clean-energy careers while connecting job seekers with green job banks and post-training employment.

Thirty grants, ranging from $763,000 to $4 million, were given to state workforce agencies. The California Employment Development Department was awarded $1.25 million.

The green-capacity building grants will boost the ability of 62 current Labor Department grant recipients to train targeted communities, including American Indians, women, at-risk youth and farm workers.

Seven California groups, including Los Angeles-based Women in Non-Traditional Employment Roles and Coalition for Responsible Community Development, received $100,000 grants. Five others were given from $70,000 to $98,122.

-- Tiffany Hsu

Comments

[Casey Verdant]

It's great that ARRA devoted so much of funding to "support job-training and labor-market information programs to help workers find jobs in green industries," but individuals don't have to wait for ARRA funding to move forward with green collar jobs. If you want to take your business green then check out this great website with hundreds of case studies on wind energy and emerging green technologies: http://www.greencollareconomy.com
Greencollareconomy.com has the largest b2b green directory on the web and lots of sustainability white papers for businesses to use in going green.

[W Sokol]

You need to actually proof read what is written so that you correct the difference between your lead of $5.5 million and your report of almost $55 million. This kind of sloppiness is indicative of a newspaper that has turned bad, very bad, rotten bad. Please pretend that there are still editors there. This is not the reporter's fault; this is a sign of garbage pile editing.

[Lisa]

I lost my full time job since December 2008 and I am
in financial trouble and so the house where I live. I only have a per-diem job as senior caregive and daily searching
for another career/jobs.
I wonder if there is a grant that will help me and protect
it from foreclosures.
Please email me and thank you in advance.