Gov. Jay Nixon was at two Southwest Missouri community colleges Monday to announce details of the state’s Training for Tomorrow initiative. Dr. Evelyn Jorgenson, president of Moberly Area Community College, says the $12 million initiative designed to educate Missourians in high-tech fields and get them working in growing industries, could have an impact locally.
“It’s a comprehensive plan that’s going to be competitive. There are going to be grants given to community colleges. The whole idea is to get people back into the workforce as quickly as possible,” she said.
Under Training for Tomorrow, member institutions of the Missouri Community College Association will partner with the government of the county in which they are located to apply for grant dollars to develop or expand programs to train Missourians in technical fields. Occupations specifically targeted by these funds could include veterinary and pharmacy technicians, nursing aides or skilled craftsmen.
“That’s where many, many jobs are going unfilled,” said Jorgenson. “When we have an economy that has a large number of people who want and need jobs, if we can provide some relatively short-term training that will get people into the workforce in good paying jobs, that’s what we want to do.”
Grant applications are due in mid-February, according to Jorgenson.
“I’m not sure how quickly we’ll find out what’s going to be available to us,” she said.
The Missouri Department of Economic Development will administer Training for Tomorrow, review and evaluate the applications, and recommend awards. Funding for the grants will come from the Second Supplemental Disaster Recovery Community Development Block Grant, a federal program to assist with economic recovery efforts.
Training for Tomorrow funds can cover all costs related to developing or expanding high-demand programs, but the funds cannot be used to replace existing salaries, pay for existing overhead costs, or cover “bricks-and-mortar” projects.
“We really appreciate the fact the governor recognized that community colleges are at the forefront of providing workforce training and short-term training programs that gets people the skills they need to be employed in high-demand occupations. We are very anxious to be part of this,” said Jorgenson.
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Gov. Jay Nixon was at two Southwest Missouri community colleges Monday to announce details of the state’s Training for Tomorrow initiative. Dr. Evelyn Jorgenson, president of Moberly Area Community College, says the $12 million initiative designed to educate Missourians in high-tech fields and get them working in growing industries, could have an impact locally.
“It’s a comprehensive plan that’s going to be competitive. There are going to be grants given to community colleges. The whole idea is to get people back into the workforce as quickly as possible,” she said.
Under Training for Tomorrow, member institutions of the Missouri Community College Association will partner with the government of the county in which they are located to apply for grant dollars to develop or expand programs to train Missourians in technical fields. Occupations specifically targeted by these funds could include veterinary and pharmacy technicians, nursing aides or skilled craftsmen.
“That’s where many, many jobs are going unfilled,” said Jorgenson. “When we have an economy that has a large number of people who want and need jobs, if we can provide some relatively short-term training that will get people into the workforce in good paying jobs, that’s what we want to do.”
Grant applications are due in mid-February, according to Jorgenson.
“I’m not sure how quickly we’ll find out what’s going to be available to us,” she said.
The Missouri Department of Economic Development will administer Training for Tomorrow, review and evaluate the applications, and recommend awards. Funding for the grants will come from the Second Supplemental Disaster Recovery Community Development Block Grant, a federal program to assist with economic recovery efforts.
Training for Tomorrow funds can cover all costs related to developing or expanding high-demand programs, but the funds cannot be used to replace existing salaries, pay for existing overhead costs, or cover “bricks-and-mortar” projects.
“We really appreciate the fact the governor recognized that community colleges are at the forefront of providing workforce training and short-term training programs that gets people the skills they need to be employed in high-demand occupations. We are very anxious to be part of this,” said Jorgenson.
