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OPA News Release: [04/02/2002]
Contact Name: Elissa
Pruett
Labor Grant Will Aid Dislocated North
Carolina Workers
Chao Announces Over $1.45 Million National Emergency
Grant
To Supplement Re-employment Programs
WASHINGTON— U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao announced
a National Emergency Grant of more than $1.45 million that will aid over 1,426
workers laid off from 175 separate employers in the textile, furniture and
product manufacturing sectors of the Southern Piedmont region of North
Carolina. National Emergency Grants are part of the secretary’s
discretionary fund. A grant is awarded after a state or local workforce
investment board submits a request and the grant guidelines have been met.
“The President and I are committed to getting North Carolina’s
displaced workers the job and skills training they need to find
re-employment,” Chao said. “I hope these funds will be deployed right
away to get North Carolinians back to work.”
The grant will be discussed in detail tomorrow by Assistant Secretary of
Labor for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco at a North Carolina
Economic Development Forum hosted by U.S. Representative Robin Hayes (R-N.C.).
The project will be operated by the Centralina, Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Pee
Dee Workforce Development Boards, and will supplement existing re-employment
programs including: job search assistance, job development, job placement,
basic skills training and counseling. Workers who will be covered under this
grant include those laid off from Mansion Homes, Stanley Furniture Company,
Sykes Enterprises, Wachovia, Scandura, Inc., Solectron, U.S. Airways, Custom
Products, Inc. and Corning, Inc.
“Helping American workers who have lost their jobs remains a top
priority for this administration,” said Chao. “The president and I
believe temporary assistance for displaced workers will help the economy grow
quickly and create more desirable and secure jobs.”
Last month, President Bush submitted his supplemental budget request to
Congress that would invest another $750 million in worker retraining efforts,
including another $550 million for the National Emergency Grant program,
restoration of the $110 million rescission of federal funds for dislocated
worker programs, $50 million to support a Targeted High-Growth Job Training
Initiative, and $40 million in additional funding for the Department of
Commerce Community Adjustment Program, which coupled with National Emergency
Grants, will help communities develop a “road map” for long-term
economic recovery and job creation.
The President also signed the Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act,
extending unemployment benefits for up to 13 weeks through 2002, giving states
$8 billion in additional funds to improve unemployment benefits and services
and providing new tax incentives to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.
For more information on the Department of Labor’s unemployment and
re-employment programs please go to www.dol.gov.
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