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A Mahoning Valley proposal will receive $4 million in federal funding to help train people for jobs in advanced manufacturing and health care
YOUNGSTOWN
A Mahoning Valley proposal to offer more training for jobs in advanced manufacturing and health care, particularly for military veterans and those with criminal records, received a $4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.
The Mahoning Valley Partnership for Employment will equip people with the skills needed for high-demand jobs in those two fields over the next four years.
The announcement was made Monday by White House officials, including Vice President Joe Biden, on a conference call with reporters. Thirty-nine projects will receive $150 million in grants from the department’s TechHire program for innovative training and placement models to develop tech talent as a way to keep and create jobs in local economies, according to the White House.
“There’s a desperate need for these tech jobs out there in the public,” Biden said.
The Valley project is led by Flying HIGH Inc. in partnership with corrections facilities, faith-based organizations, and work-release efforts. The program will develop intensive coaching, career pathways and customized training for participants.
Jeff Magada, Flying HIGH’s founder and executive director, said the program’s “emphasis will be on welding and the health care industry,” specifically helping people become registered nurses.
“The $4 million will do multiple things such as getting training programs in place and surrounding people in the programs with support to maintain employment,” said Magada, who wrote the grant application and learned about the award from a Vindicator reporter. “We are very excited about this. More than any other place, the Mahoning Valley needs these funds. This is a perfect employment program for this area.”
Flying HIGH, located in downtown Youngstown, helps provide training and resources to those with low incomes, criminal backgrounds and past drug and alcohol addictions, he said.
The organization will work with the workforce investment boards in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties as well the Mahoning Valley Section of the American Welding Society, the Washington Square Healthcare Center, Dandridge’s Burgundi Manor, Columbiana Boiler Co., the Choffin School of Practical Nursing and Eastern Gateway Community College.
The welding society and Washington Square also will consider hiring qualified participants who complete the training programs to fill new job openings and to back-fill job vacancies left by workers who have been promoted.
“I’m very happy the area received these funds,” said Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally. “We talk about training people for jobs for welding and the pipe industry. We need to do a better job of training folks for that work. We also need programs to train returning citizens and those with criminal backgrounds for jobs.”
This is the only grant awarded exclusively to a program in Ohio.
The only other Ohio connection is a $4 million grant for Columbus along with Austin, Texas, and Roanoke, Va., to help young adults, the unemployed and dislocated workers be trained in information technology jobs in those three cities and surrounding counties.