Grants announced to support workforce skills training, job placement programs
AUSTIN – Gov. Greg Abbott today announced more than $7 million in Texas Talent Connection grants to 27 innovative workforce skills training and job placement programs in communities across the state. The competitive grants are administered by the Texas Workforce Investment Council in the Texas Economic Development & Tourism Office and serve to support innovative education and workforce skills training programs that “lead to successful job placements, increased wages, and improved job retention, as well as serve workforce populations with special needs,” according to a media release.
Programs in proximity to Ellis County include:
• North Texas Electrical Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee: $350,000 for year one of the North Texas Electrical Apprenticeship Navigator and Apprenticeship Bootcamp project in Collin, Comanche, Cooke, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Ellis, Erath, Fannin, Grayson, Hood, Hunt, Jack, Johnson, Kaufman, Navarro, Palo Pinto, Parker, Rockwall, Somervell, Tarrant and Wise counties. This project aims to strengthen the electrician apprenticeship pipeline.
• Texas Premier Technology Institute: $250,000 for year two of TechBridge DFW: AI-Enabled IT Support Accelerator program serving Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, and Tarrant counties. This program prepares underserved individuals, including veterans, unemployed, and disadvantaged youth, for entry-level technical jobs in IT support, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence.
• Community Learning Centers, Inc.: $200,00 for year three of the Maintenance and Repair Technician Training project in Tarrant County. The project helps veterans, unemployed, underemployed, and those with low-income, low-skill backgrounds to acquire and master basic knowledge and skills to attain an entry-level maintenance and repair workers certification in multiple industry sectors.
• My Possibilities: $200,000 for year three of the Employment Innovation School project serving Collin, Dallas, Denton, Rockwall, and Tarrant counties. The project will provide hands-on vocational training and certification in the retail, culinary arts, hospitality, technology, administration, and facilities industries for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
• Per Scholas, Inc.: $200,000 for year three of the Creating Economic Mobility and Robust Futures Through Information Technology Training project serving Collin, Dallas, Denton, Fort Bend, Harris, Houston, and Tarrant counties. The project provides technical skill training for job opportunities such as help desk analysts, desktop support technicians, and associate network engineers in the information technology industry.
• Texas A&M Engineering Experimentation Station: $349,991 for year one of the TRIBEC Advanced Industry-focused Biomanufacturing (TRAINBio) project in Brazos, Collin, and Dallas counties. This project provides intensive, hands-on capstone training in biomanufacturing at the National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing facilities.
• Texas State Technical College: $266,252 for year one of the Production Technician Workforce Pathway in Bosque, Falls, Freestone, Hill, Limestone, and McLennan counties. The program will prepare adults 18 and older for entry-level employment in the regional manufacturing sector.
“The Texas economy soars to new heights because of the hard work and dedication of our young and skilled workforce,” Abbott said in a statement. “These grants will allow more Texans to acquire the skills they need to succeed in high-demand careers. As we train our future workforce, Texas will remain the economic engine of the country."
Additional programs were announced serving other areas within the state.
Read more about the Texas Talent Connection grant program at https://gov.texas.gov/organization/twic/wagner_peyser_7b_program.
