US Gov Grants $94M for Diverse Workforce Training Under Investing in America Agenda

The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of nearly $94 million in grants to support 34 public-private partnerships to provide worker-centered sector strategy training programs in 25 states and the District of Columbia to meet workforce needs created by the Biden-Harris administration’s “Investing in America” agenda.

Creating pathways to high-quality jobs, including union jobs, is a key component of Bidenomics, the President’s economic agenda, which is growing the U.S. economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not from the top down.

Administered by the department’s Employment and Training Administration, the Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant Program will help grant recipients design, develop and grow training programs and work-based learning opportunities that prepare job seekers for high-demand, high-quality career pathways in advanced manufacturing, information technology and professional, scientific, and technical service occupations. The training will support jobs in the renewable energy, transportation and broadband infrastructure sectors created through the administration’s infrastructure investments.

“The Department of Labor is making investments that will serve as a down payment to meet the skilled workforce needs of President Biden’s historic Investing in America agenda,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “The Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs funding will help to train job seekers in advance manufacturing, information technology and professional, scientific, and technical occupations that support renewable energy, transportation and broadband infrastructure. We look forward to working with our grantees to help to strengthen and expand our workforce to provide opportunities for good-paying, family-sustaining jobs.”

The funding will help grant recipients design programs driven by industry needs and worker voice and create equitable pathways to good-paying infrastructure jobs. The programs will emphasize the delivery of training and supportive services, particularly to those from rural or historically marginalized, underserved and underrepresented communities.

“In order to rebuild this country back better than before, we must build career pathways to infrastructure jobs that include everyone. That’s why as President Biden’s Investing in America creates millions of good-paying union jobs, we’re expanding career training programs that unlock those opportunities to workers of all backgrounds,” said Senior Advisor to the President of the United States Mitch Landrieu. “This new, historic funding will help us put Americans to work as we grow our clean energy economy, expand access to affordable, reliable high-speed internet, and ensure that our infrastructure is resilient for decades to come.”

Projects funded by these grants will incorporate diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility; strong career pathways to middle-to-high skilled jobs; and a focus on increasing job quality. The Building Pathways grants complement the department’s ongoing work to meet our nation’s infrastructure workforce needs, including by aligning Registered Apprenticeships and workforce programs at community colleges, and supporting state and local partnerships seeking to leverage workforce funding to support high-quality training and supportive services.

A list of the Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs grant recipients follows this release.