Workforce Development Grants Awarded

RALEIGH – The North Carolina Department of Commerce has awarded 20 special grants to 11 local workforce development boards, totaling $8.45 million, Governor Roy Cooper announced. Boards will use the grants to help jobseekers and small businesses with training and other services in response to a tight labor market. These include programs for individuals who are in the reentry process and individuals with or at risk of substance abuse. Federal American Rescue Plan Act funds are supporting this initiative.

“In today’s changing economy, we must help more North Carolinians overcome barriers to entering the workforce, particularly individuals reentering after incarceration, while also helping our employers train workers with the skills they need,” Governor Cooper said. “These grants will provide new opportunities for communities to fill good jobs and put more money in the pockets of hard-working North Carolinians.”

“As part of the state’s First in Talent strategic economic development plan, we are investing in the people of North Carolina through these innovative grants,” said N.C. Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders. “Alongside our NCWorks partners, we will help increase labor force participation by preparing individuals who are involved in the reentry process, and those who have suffered from opioid addiction or other substance use disorders, for career success. At the same time, we will expand Work-Based Learning opportunities to support the small businesses that are vital to our state’s economic growth.”

The Department of Commerce awarded a NCWorks Substance Use Disorder Recovery Grants to Capital Area Workforce Development Board (Chatham, Johnston, Lee and Wake counties). The $200,000 grant will help youth with, or at risk for, substance use disorders to develop and carry out a career plan that leads to successful employment. Partners will provide wrap-around supportive services and encouragement to youth participants.

A NCWorks Small Business Work-Based Learning Grants was also awarded to the Capital Area WDB (Chatham, Johnston, Lee and Wake counties). The $850,000 grant will make an impact on small businesses through an initiative to scale the board’s current small business workforce development focus to its entire service area.

The source of funding for all these grants is a component of the American Rescue Plan Act, the State Fiscal Recovery Fund (SFRF), which provides $5.4 billion to North Carolina to help turn the tide on the pandemic, address its economic fallout, and lay the foundation for a strong and equitable recovery. The N.C. General Assembly appropriated the SFRF in the 2021 Appropriations Act (Session Law 2021-180).

The Division of Workforce Solutions at the N.C. Department of Commerce will soon begin accepting applications from local government agencies and non-profit organizations for workforce grants from the same funding source.

Individual jobseekers and employers interested in services funded by grants to local workforce boards should contact their local NCWorks Career Centers. Contact information is found at www.NCWorks.gov.