FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, August 1, 2023
MEDIA CONTACT: ra-gvgovpress@pa.gov
ICYMI: Governor Shapiro Creates First-in-the-Nation Workforce Training Program to Invest $400 Million in On-the-Job Training and Create 10,000 New Jobs
“We need the kind of federal and state partnership that Governor Shapiro was champion of today to start righting the wrongs of the past and building out the middle class from the ground up.”
Harrisburg, PA – Yesterday, Governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order creating the Commonwealth Workforce Transformation Program, a first-in-the-nation job training program that provides workforce development grants to ensure companies, contractors, unions, and others who are working to build Pennsylvania’s infrastructure have the skilled workforce they need while creating real opportunity for thousands of new workers across the Commonwealth.
The program allows organizations doing important infrastructure work funded by President Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) or the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to receive up to $40,000 for each new worker they train and up to a maximum of $400,000 per contract or award under the IRA and IIJA to help accelerate critical investments in infrastructure development – from repairing our roads and bridges, to modernizing our energy, water, and sewer infrastructure – all across Pennsylvania.
Under the CWTP, the Commonwealth will reserve at least 3% of all funding it receives from the IIJA and IRA to fund workforce development and on-the-job training, meaning that as much as $400 million could be used for workforce training in Pennsylvania over the next five years. This model initiative will be the largest infusion in funding for workforce training in Pennsylvania history and could support as many as 10,000 new jobs.
As Governor Shapiro showed with rebuilding I-95 in just 12 days, when government works together and when we have a skilled workforce ready to do the job, we can build big things again in Pennsylvania and across America.
See what Pennsylvanians are reading about Governor Shapiro’s new, first-in-the-nation workforce training program:
90.5 WESA: In Pittsburgh visit, Shapiro announces ‘unprecedented’ effort to provide job training
Lehigh Valley Business Journal: Shapiro executive order creates new workforce training program
City & State Pennsylvania: Shapiro announces $400M workforce training program
CNHI News: Shapiro pens order to bolster Pennsylvania workforce
Politics PA: Shapiro Establishes First-Of-Kind Workforce Training Program
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