June 25, 2012
Contact: Karen Jarmon
Communications Advisor, CCAT
860-282-4211; kjarmon@ccat.us
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ADVANCE Training Grant To Aid Lower-Income Job Seekers
CCAT to lead program focusing on basic skills and hands-on training in manufacturing
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. – The Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, Inc. (CCAT) has been awarded two grants totaling more than $275,000 from Workforce Solutions Collaborative of Metro Hartford (WSCMH) to administer the ADVANCE Manufacturing Advisory Partnership’s (AMAP) work with unemployed, lower-income job seekers and small-to-midsize manufacturers through August 2013.
AMAP will address and implement training programs to aid 100 jobless lower-income individuals improve basic foundational skills and workplace readiness, and gain technical, hands-on work experience to help them become qualified candidates for good-paying manufacturing jobs. In addition, the funds will help subsidize employment and training costs and job/apprenticeship placement assistance for unemployed workers.
“The challenge facing job seekers is to demonstrate that they have the skills and experience required by manufacturers today,” stated Elliot Ginsberg, CCAT president and CEO.
“We’re very pleased that CCAT has the opportunity to expand the work started by ADVANCE AMAP. With this new funding, we will concentrate on the urgent need for training that will enrich the lives of so many out-of-work individuals and their families, and provide our regional manufacturers with the skilled talent they need to succeed in the competitive global marketplace.”
CCAT leveraged its work with the Manufacturing and Supply Chain Initiative and partnerships with manufacturers to create AMAP in 2010 to advance incumbent, lower-income workers to middle-skill jobs while meeting the needs of area manufacturers. The new grants enable CCAT to broaden the initial focus of AMAP and aid lower-income people who are currently not working.
“Through the initial ADVANCE Training Grant program more than 45 area manufacturers were able to provide 800 workers with training and support programs,” stated Paula S. Gilberto, chairperson, Workforce Solutions Collaborative of Metro Hartford.
“The new funding will enable AMAP to build on its past successes, help our workers increase their wages and get ahead, and help our local manufacturers stay competitive.”
About CCAT
The Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, Inc. (CCAT), headquartered in East Hartford, Conn., is a unique economic development organization that combines expertise in cutting-edge manufacturing technology with specialized centers of excellence in STEM, education, workforce strategy and alternative energy solutions to help organizations increase efficiencies, improve workforce development and boost competitiveness. CCAT promotes partnerships between industry, academia and government to create a new collaborative framework for tackling 21st century economic challenges.
For more information, go to www.ccat.us
About Workforce Solutions Collaborative of Metro Hartford
Formed in 2008, the Collaborative invests in employer-driven partnerships to facilitate the career advance of lower-income workers while meeting the needs of local employers. Current local funders of the Collaborative are American Savings Foundation, Capital Workforce Partners, Community Chest of New Britain and Berlin, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, Nutmeg Foundation, Prudential Foundation, and United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut.
For more information, go to www.workforce-solutions.org.
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