Phila. groups share in Labor grants
Two Philadelphia workforce development organizations received $13.5 million in U.S. Labor Department grants to provide training in green jobs. The grants were part of a $38 million package doled out to six organizations to help workers in 19 states. Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America Inc., Philadelphia, received nearly $8 million to use in programs in Arizona, California, Florida, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Minnesota. The Finishing Trades Institute of the Mid-Atlantic Region, which is the training school for the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, received nearly $5.6 million to train or retrain 2,000 over three years in Delaware, Winslow, N.J., and several Pennsylvania cities including Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The union's training school, in Northeast Philadelphia, has achieved accreditation as an institution of higher learning, enabling it to award college credits for its work. The Boston-based Jobs for the Future Inc., which was awarded $8 million, will also run some programs in Philadelphia. - Jane M. Von Bergen
Two Philadelphia workforce development organizations received $13.5 million in U.S. Labor Department grants to provide training in green jobs. The grants were part of a $38 million package doled out to six organizations to help workers in 19 states. Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America Inc., Philadelphia, received nearly $8 million to use in programs in Arizona, California, Florida, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Minnesota. The Finishing Trades Institute of the Mid-Atlantic Region, which is the training school for the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, received nearly $5.6 million to train or retrain 2,000 over three years in Delaware, Winslow, N.J., and several Pennsylvania cities including Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The union's training school, in Northeast Philadelphia, has achieved accreditation as an institution of higher learning, enabling it to award college credits for its work. The Boston-based Jobs for the Future Inc., which was awarded $8 million, will also run some programs in Philadelphia. - Jane M. Von Bergen