Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced grant awards to 32 industry-led workforce training partnerships across the country as part of the $500 million Good Jobs Challenge funded by President Biden’s American Rescue Plan. The Good Jobs Challenge is administered by the Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) and is focused on enabling communities across the country to invest in innovative approaches to workforce development.
The 32 winning projects, announced in early August, were selected from a competitive pool of 509 applicants. By partnering with labor unions, community colleges, industry, and other stakeholders, these projects are expected to address local talent needs and increase the supply of trained workers and help workers secure jobs in 15 key industries essential to U.S. supply chains, global competitiveness, and regional development. This funding will advance a broad range of sectors—including agriculture and food production, energy and resilience, healthcare, manufacturing and information technology—jumpstarting the design, development, implementation, and expansion of training programs that are tailored specifically to each community.
“A trained workforce is essential to ensuring that the United States can compete and succeed in the 21st century,” said Secretary Raimondo. “Thanks to funding from the American Rescue Plan, the Commerce Department is able to make once-in-a-generation investments in industry-driven, and locally-led workforce systems that will create high-quality jobs and accelerate regional economic growth, especially for underserved communities.”
Further, these projects will expand access to the workforce and increase labor participation through a focus on job quality and equity. The projects will serve and support a broad range of individuals from underserved populations across the country in urban and rural areas, including members of Latino, African American, Indigenous, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities, as well as women, the formerly incarcerated, and those recovering from substance abuse disorder. Many of these investments also advance the goals of the President’s Talent Pipeline Challenge to create equitable workforce development opportunities for infrastructure jobs.
The Good Jobs Challenge is part of a suite of American Rescue Plan programs developed by EDA to equitably distribute its $3 billion allocation to assist communities nationwide in their efforts to build a better America by accelerating economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and building more resilient, shockproof local economies. EDA is currently evaluating all applications and will announce grantees for the full suite of programs by September 30, 2022.
The project leads for each awardee are listed below.
- Alaska Primary Care Association (Alaska)
Grant: $9.7 million
Industry: Healthcare - Charleston Chamber Foundation (South Carolina)
Grant: $8.4 million
Industry: Healthcare - Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership (Illinois)
Grant: $18.5 million
Industry: Healthcare; Manufacturing; Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics; Information Technology - City of Birmingham (Alabama)
Grant: $10.8 million
Industry: Healthcare - City of New York Human Resources Administration (New York)
Grant: $18.6 million
Industry: Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics; Building and Construction - City of Springfield (Missouri)
Grant: $17.5 million
Industry: Healthcare; Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics; Education - Dallas College (Texas)
Grant: $8.8 million
Industry: Bio-medical - Economic Development and Industrial Corporation of Boston (Massachusetts)
Grant: $23 million
Industry: Healthcare; Energy and Resilience; Childcare - Florida Gulf Coast University Board of Trustees (Florida)
Grant: $22.9 million
Industry: Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics; Healthcare; Manufacturing; Education - Foundation for California Community Colleges (California)
Grant: $21.5 million
Industry: Forestry and Fire Safety - Fresno County Economic Development Corporation (California)
Grant: $23 million
Industry: Professional and Financial Services; Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics; Manufacturing; Building and Construction - Hampton Roads Workforce Council (Virginia & North Carolina)
Grant: $11 million
Industry: Water and Blue Economy; Energy and Resilience - Illinois Central College (Illinois)
Grant: $14.6 million
Industry: Information Technology - Lakota Funds (South Dakota)
Grant: $5 million
Industry: Building and Construction - Maryland Department of Labor (Maryland)
Grant: $22.9 million
Industry: Energy and Resilience - Miami Dade College (Florida)
Grant: $10 million
Industry: Information Technology - Mid-South Center for Occupational Innovation (Arkansas, Mississippi, & West Tennessee)
Grant: $21.5 million
Industry: Building and Construction; Manufacturing; Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics - Nevadaworks (Nevada)
Grant: $14.9 million
Industry: Healthcare; Information Technology; Manufacturing; Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics - North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (North Carolina)
Grant: $23.7 million
Industry: Energy and Resilience - North Central New Mexico Economic Development District (New Mexico)
Grant: $6.4 million
Industry: Healthcare; Building and Construction - Office of Workforce Strategy (Connecticut)
Grant: $23.9 million
Industry: Manufacturing; Healthcare; Information Technology, Bio-medical - Ohio Manufacturers’ Association Educational and Industrial Development Institute (Ohio)
Grant: $23.5 million
Industry: Manufacturing - Persevere (Tennessee)
Grant: $15.4 million
Industry: Information Technology - Philadelphia Works, Inc (Pennsylvania)
Grant: $22.8 million
Industry: Healthcare; Building and Construction; Energy and Resilience - Southwestern Oregon Workforce Investment Board (Oregon)
Grant: $3.4 million
Industry: Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics - The Chamber Foundation (North Dakota & Minnesota)
Grant: $9.6 million
Industry: Agriculture and Food Production; Information Technology; Manufacturing - UnidosUS (Puerto Rico & Colorado)
Grant: $11.4 million
Industry: Aerospace & Defense; Building and Construction; Financial and Professional Services - United Way of Central Iowa (Iowa)
Grant: $1.8 million
Industry: Healthcare - University of Hawaii (Hawaii)
Grant: $16.4 million
Industry: Healthcare; Information Technology; Energy and Resilience; Film, Arts, & Media - Washington Student Achievement Council (Washington)
Grant: $23.5 million
Industry: Healthcare; Information Technology; Financial and Professional Services; Energy and Resilience; Manufacturing; Building and Construction - Workforce Solutions Rural Capital (Texas)
Grant: $12.1 million
Industry: Building and Construction; Information Technology; Healthcare - WTIA Workforce Institute (Nationwide WA; MO; AL; VA; TX; NV; PA; NJ; NC; LA; OH)
Grant: $23.5 million
Industry: Information Technology