Del Tech set to get workers back to work
A new retraining program at Delaware Technical Community College aims at getting laid-off workers back to work.
The college has received a federal grant of nearly $5 million designed to retrain unemployed workers. The college will use the grant to help Delawareans who lost their jobs in the automotive, chemical, credit card and poultry industries qualify for jobs in emerging industries.
Expanded offerings will include courses in agriculture, aviation, energy, healthcare and information technology. Six new programs across its four campuses will be added, according to a press release.
U.S. Sens. Tom Carper and Chris Coons and Rep. John Carney joined Del Tech President Orlando George Jr. and Del Tech Vice President for Academic Affairs Stephanie Smith Oct. 1 to announce the Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training grant.
“This grant will help provide the resources we need to build a well-educated work force for the future of our economy in Delaware and the region,” Carper said. “We have motivated, skilled workers in Delaware and this grant will help put them back to work.”
The federal initiative was created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and is designed to help workers who have lost their jobs as a result of increased imports or shifts in production out of the United States.
“I am extremely proud of Delaware Tech for taking the lead on this initiative to provide access to training that will translate into high-wage, high-skill jobs,” Coons wrote. “Creating jobs is my top priority.”
Both Coons and Carney wrote about the importance of providing a qualified workforce in creating jobs and strengthening the economy.
“Delaware’s workforce is one of the most skilled in the nation, and I’m excited for this opportunity to further prepare workers for the jobs of the future. The programs and partnerships that Delaware Tech can create with this funding will lead directly to economic growth that benefits the entire community,” Carney said.
Melissa Steele is a staff writer covering the state Legislature, government and police. Her newspaper career spans more than 30 years and includes working for the Delaware State News, Burlington County Times, The News Journal, Dover Post and Milford Beacon before coming to the Cape Gazette in 2012. Her work has received numerous awards, most notably a Pulitzer Prize-adjudicated investigative piece, and a runner-up for the MDDC James S. Keat Freedom of Information Award.
