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Jim Doyle Governor Roberta Gassman Secretary

State of Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, May 28, 2009 CONTACT: Dick Jones, Agency Liaison, 608-267-4780

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 201 East Washington Avenue P.O. Box 7946 Madison, WI 53707-7946 Telephone: (608) 266-3131 Fax: (608) 266-1784 http://dwd.wisconsin.gov/ e-mail: [email protected]

Secretary Gassman Announces Grow Grant Opportunities
$700,000 in new round of Governor Doyle's Emerging Industries Skills Partnership
MADISON ­ Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Roberta Gassman today urged biotech, renewable energy and advanced manufacturing firms to join DWD's regional partners in applying for $700,000 in new worker training grants under Governor Doyle's Emerging Industries Skills Partnership (EISP) initiative. "Governor Doyle's Grow Wisconsin initiative presents us with another great opportunity to train hundreds of workers for jobs of the future," Secretary Gassman said. "With its focus on green jobs, renewable energy and lean, high-tech manufacturing, we can make Wisconsin a cleaner, healthier, safer state, as we help both our workers gain the latest skills and their employers succeed in emerging, high-growth sectors." The $700,000 for a second round of EISP grants is part of a nearly $6 million worker training package that Governor Doyle announced in March. The EISP grants and other items in the package are funded from existing federal sources. Industries eligible for the new round of grants are in the following broad categories: bio-industry, biotechnology and advanced manufacturing. The grants will fund training for incumbent workers, dislocated workers, lowwage workers, and adult job seekers who are unemployed or under employed. The funding will be for training during a 12-month period starting July 1, 2009. In the first round a year ago, Secretary Gassman announced $850,000 in EISP grants that provided training to incumbent workers and job seekers in the emerging sectors. The 2008 grants were awarded to 10 workforce development boards for projects that targeted more than 1,700 workers for training. Applications must be submitted by 4 p.m. on June 19, 2009, to Sharon Berge, DWD Division of Employment and Training, at [email protected]. For more detailed information about EISP grants, contact Sharon at (608) 266-5138. Successful applicants can receive up to $100,000 for worker training. Local matching funds are required, a minimum of up to 50 percent of the grant, from regional partners and others involved in a project. If incumbent workers are trained, the match required from the participating employer would be $6,250. Contact information for all 11 regional workforce development agencies can be found at the following link: http://dwd.wisconsin.gov/dwdwia/PDF/wda_list.pdf. - 30 -

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