Congressman Brady announces Obama administration award to community colleges for job training and workforce development

PHILADELPHIA --- Congressman Bob Brady (D., PA) announced that the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Education have awarded nearly $500 million in grants to community colleges around the country for targeted job training and workforce development to help economically dislocated workers who are changing careers.

Of that amount the 14 community colleges, including Community College of Philadelphia and  Delaware County Community College, that comprise the Pennsylvania Consortium of Community Colleges will receive $20 million in Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grants.

“These grants combined with President’s proposals in the American Jobs Act are so important in these hard economic times. They represent the kind of stepping stone that is needed to train and retrain ready workers. This approach meets the needs of industry for a skilled and educated workforce and helps to ensure that laid off workers have a new set of credentials and skills to be competitive in growing industries,” Congressman Brady said.

The Community College and Career Training Initiative complements President Obama’s broader agenda for every American to have at least one year of postsecondary education and will help to reach the goal for America to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.

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