Patrick-Murray Administration announces $1.275M in state investments to help support City’s strategic plan to educate and skill citizens for the jobs of the future.
SPRINGFIELD– August 18, 2008–Highlighting a continued commitment by the Patrick Administration to help revitalize
Springfield, Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Suzanne M. Bump today joined Springfield leaders to launch its new comprehensive Workforce Development Plan.
“Governor Patrick and I applaud the efforts of Mayor Domenic Sarno and the Hampden County Regional Employment Board to develop a blueprint for workforce development which takes a strategic cradle to career approach in educating and training its workforce for the jobs of the future,” said Secretary Bump.
Secretary Bump announced $1.275M in new workforce development funding, $750,000 of which directly targets the City of Springfield in support of its workforce plan. This funding includes a $475,000 Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund (WCTF) grant to the Baystate Medical Center to increase pathways for lower-skilled incumbent workers by providing Certified Nursing Assistant (CAN) and Acute Care Training to 10 incumbent workers and 45 external candidates. Additionally, $475,000 in Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund grant money to the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County will provide 185 participants with access to education and training in early childhood education with a focus on helping women, minority, non-English speaking and economic disadvantaged candidates.Announcing $100,000 in community development block grant funding for adult basic education, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno noted, “This workforce development plan marks an important step forward for the City of Springfield, laying the solid foundation from pre-kindergarten to our workforce through collaboration of our academic and workforce development worlds. This is an aggressive plan with measurable outcomes and we are eager to
begin and enthusiastically anticipate its results. This large-scale project is important not only for Springfield, but also for the Commonwealth because as the saying goes, ‘as goes Springfield, so goes the region.”
The Springfield workforce plan addresses four strategic goals to break the cycle of poverty and close the skills gap:
- Establish a universal pre-kindergarten program and support family literacy,
- Institute extended learning time and career and college programs to improve high school graduation rates and outcomes,
- Close the literacy and skills gap by investing in adult education and language training, and
- Target training and education toward filling jobs in key industries.
The plan comes as the City is poised to turn over hundreds of jobs due to an aging workforce and add jobs as a result of a $250M expansion by the Baystate Medical Center as well as efforts to attract biomedical expansion into the region.
Michael Niziolek, Senior Vice President at Hasbro and Chair of the Hampden County Regional Employment Board, who announced $150,000 in private sector funding for youth internship and training, added, “This is exactly the kind of comprehensive workforce development that the City of Springfield needs because it is fundamentally driven by the workforce needs of the business community. What makes this plan unique is that it focuses on both short and long term strategies that must be implemented in our region if we are to have a competitive workforce.”
