SACRAMENTO

 A $19 million State training grant will help 2,497 Californians in thirteen counties move quickly off the unemployment rolls and into new careers in high-wage jobs in growing industries. The $19,049,512 grant will provide job training and job search assistance to laid-off workers in Alameda, Colusa, Contra Costa, Glenn, Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Sacramento, San Benito, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Sutter and Yuba counties. This assistance will be provided by the California Multi-Sector Workforce Partnership, which is a statewide collaborative of 14 Workforce Investment Boards.

 “California is steadily adding jobs as we work our way out of the deepest economic downturn in more than seven decades,” said Director Pam Harris, California Employment Development Department (EDD). “While we have taken great strides, we still have far to go. Many workers remain unemployed because they lack the skills needed in the economy of the 21^st century. This grant will provide them with the tools to find jobs in three primary high-growth industries: health care, professional and business services, and transportation and warehousing.”

 The California Multi-Sector Workforce Partnership has partnered with the California Workforce Association and EDD to provide comprehensive training and employment services for workers across California who have been displaced from their jobs through no fault of their own. The Partnership will use the funding to provide advanced education, basic skills training, job search assistance, work experience and supportive services.

 Funding for the program is drawn from the Governor’s 25 percent portion of Dislocated Worker Funds from Title I of the federal Workforce Investment Act and is under the administrative authority of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency’s EDD.