What changed
The U.S. Department of Labor announced $81,542,854 in seventh-round Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities grants for rural workforce training. DOL says the grants are administered by its Employment and Training Administration and made in partnership with the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Delta Regional Authority and the Northern Border Regional Commission.
The 13 awards went to organizations in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia. Award amounts range from $3,542,739 to $8,000,000.
DOL says the grants will support industry-driven training for new workers, dislocated workers and current workers who need new skills. The notice says that training can include Registered Apprenticeships and can focus on sectors including skilled trades and construction, healthcare, information technology, manufacturing, domestic energy production and business and professional services. The DOL release is here: http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20261016
What it means for the shop
For rural HVAC, plumbing, electrical and landscaping contractors, the practical consequence is possible access to new local training or hiring pipelines, especially if a grantee in your state targets skilled trades or construction.
The release does not say that any specific contractor trade is covered. It also does not say whether small shops can participate as apprenticeship sponsors, host employers, advisory-board members, hiring partners or training sites.
Shops near the listed grantees should treat this as an early notice, not an open program announcement. The award recipients are: Tuskegee University in Alabama; Arkansas Rural Health Partnership Inc. in Arkansas; Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program Inc. in Kentucky; Delta Health Alliance Inc. and Part of the Solution Foundation in Mississippi; Community Partnership of Southeast Missouri in Missouri; Finger Lakes Community Action in New York; Tri County Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates and United Steelworkers Local 689 in Ohio; CodeCrew in Tennessee; JobForward Inc. in Vermont; New River Mount Rogers Workforce Investment Area Consortium in Virginia; and The 1982 Foundation in West Virginia.
What remains unknown
DOL’s notice does not provide county-level service areas, employer-facing contacts, trainee targets, performance goals or award abstracts. It also does not say when recruitment, enrollment or training delivery will begin.
The biggest question for contractors is which awards, if any, will directly train workers for HVAC, plumbing, electrical, landscaping, facilities maintenance, construction trades or related occupations.
Also unknown: whether participating employers will face costs, wage commitments, hiring commitments, paperwork requirements or eligibility limits, and whether each relevant project will use Registered Apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, short-term credentials, incumbent-worker training, placement services or another model.
Sources
- Primary authority
dol.gov: US Department of Labor awards $81.5M in grants to support industry-driven job training programs in rural communities | U.S. Department of Labor - Interested party
richmondfed.org: Apprenticeships for Rural America - Primary authority
dol.gov: US Department of Labor awards $43 million to 7 states to support skills training in shipbuilding, manufacturing, aerospace, other critical industries | U.S. Department of Labor