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Governor Perdue Announces $2.7 Million in Grants

Thursday, April 20, 2006  Contact: Office of Communications 404-651-7774

Governor Perdue Announces $2.7 Million in Grants

$1.7 Million for Job Training; $1 Million for ‘Stay in School’ Initiative

ATLANTA- Governor Sonny Perdue announced today $2.7 million in grants awarded through Workforce Investment Act Statewide Discretionary Funds. $1.7 million will be granted to workforce investment agencies for job training and career development, and one million will be granted to the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education (DTAE) for the Stay In School (SIS) initiative.

Five workforce investment agencies in Georgia will receive $1.7 million to provide job retraining for dislocated workers, salaries for jobs for disadvantaged youth, and adult career development activities to assist unemployed adults.

“Since 2003 Georgia has seen robust job growth, but tough market conditions have caused some plants to close, impacting Georgia citizens who worked there,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “These grants will help to retrain these workers with the skills they need to pursue new jobs and renewed prosperity.”

DTAE received a one million dollar grant to support the Stay In School initiative. These funds awarded to DTAE will be used to expand a pilot career development program that the Technical College System of Georgia began in 2005. The initiative partners a technical college with a middle and high school to begin counseling eighth grade students on potential career paths and provides information to students on how to achieve their career goals.

“Middle school is the ideal time to begin providing advice and counseling to students on their career choices,” said Governor Perdue. “Sharing information with these students on future job opportunities is one way to ensure we keep students focused on staying in school.”

DTAE will work with the Georgia Department of Education to combine high school graduation initiatives currently underway, including Governor Perdue’s 2006 legislative proposal to fund high school completion counselors in every high school in Georgia. The SIS program will evaluate the impact of middle school career counseling on the high school completion rate, post-secondary enrollment and reduction in remediation required by rising college freshman.

The following is a list of the grants awarded for job training and career development. Both grants will be administered by the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development.

 

Local Workforce Investment Area

Grant Award

Counties Served

Metro Atlanta Regional

$450,000

Dislocated Workers

Cherokee, Gwinnett, Rockdale, Henry, Clayton, Fayette, Douglas

Middle Georgia

$263,107

Dislocated Workers

Putnam, Baldwin, Wilkinson, Jones, Twiggs, Pulaski, Houston, Peach, Crawford, Monroe

Northwest Georgia

$500,000

Dislocated Workers

Dade, Walker, Catoosa, Whitfield, Murray, Gilmer, Fannin, Pickens, Gordon, Floyd, Bartow,

Polk, Haralson, Paulding

Heart of Georgia/Altamaha

$350,000

Dislocated Workers

Johnson, Emanuel, Candler, Truetlen, Laurens, Bleckley, Dodge, Wilcox, Telfair, Jeff Davis, Wheeler, Montgomery, Toombs, Tattnall, Evans, Appling, Wayne

Lower Chattahoochee

$100,000

($50,000 – Adult)

($50,000- Youth)

Harris, Talbot, Muscogee, Chattahoochee, Stewart, Quitman, Randolph, Clay

 

 

 

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