Tuesday, December 14, 2021
CVTC Awarded $10 Million Workforce Innovation Grant
Sunem Beaton-Garcia, Chippewa Valley Technical College president, gives remarks during a news conference with Gov. Tony Evers Tuesday morning. CVTC received a $10 million competitive grant to address the region’s manufacturing workforce shortage.
Chippewa Valley Technical College has been selected to receive a highly competitive $10 million Workforce Innovation Grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to address the critical workforce shortage in the manufacturing industry throughout northwestern Wisconsin.
Gov. Tony Evers announced the 3-year grant, one of only 12 in the state out of more than 130 applications, during a news conference on Tuesday, Dec. 14.
“Employers are struggling to hire qualified workers into key metal fabrication careers throughout the manufacturing sector,” said Sunem Beaton-Garcia, CVTC president. “While these jobs are high-paying and in demand, we need to do what we can to attract people to the field through skilled training and education, which will lead to successful, long-term careers.”
CVTC’s RESTORE (Restoring Employment through Support, Training, Outreach, Recruitment and Education) program will partner with Northwood Technical College, Workforce Resource, Inc., Bloomer School District, Osseo-Fairchild School District, St. Croix Central School District and PMI – a metal fabricating business, to facilitate career pathways in metal fabrication for underserved populations throughout rural northwestern Wisconsin.
“The project will work to provide innovative options to access learning opportunities throughout our communities,” Beaton-Garcia said. “This will be done by creating training hubs to access education and equipment in strategic locations of the region utilizing mobile labs, implementing short-term training programs, and facilitating career pathway planning events.
“These strategies will assist prospective workers in their pursuit to high paying careers in manufacturing.”
