October 13, 2009
Job-training program reaches goal 10 months earlier than anticipated
LANSING - Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today announced that No Worker Left Behind, the state's job-training program, has reached its goal of enrolling 100,000 participants. The goal was attained 10 months earlier than anticipated.
The governor will celebrate the achievement later this afternoon during an event at Delta College in University Center where she will address past and present participants of the college's Fast Start Program. The program trains chemical process operators and is affiliated with No Worker Left Behind.
"In 2007, we created No Worker Left Behind to help Michigan workers attain the education and marketable skills they needed for jobs in high demand and in new industries," Granholm said. "The program has been tremendously successful and is a national model for workforce investment policy."
The Granholm administration launched No Worker Left Behind on August 1, 2007, as an innovative plan to train 100,000 citizens in three years for jobs in high-demand occupations and emerging industries and also to develop entrepreneurship.
In a little more than two years, 102,413 people have enrolled for training through No Worker Left Behind. This past August was the program's biggest month yet, with 5,670 people enrolled - the largest single month enrollment in No Worker Left Behind history and an 82 percent increase over August 2008.
Recognizing the clear link between postsecondary education and employment, No Worker Left Behind gives Michigan workers the opportunity to acquire the skills they need to win good-paying jobs in today's global economy. By reorganizing and augmenting federal funds currently used for workforce development, No Worker Left Behind provides qualifying participants two years of free tuition up to $10,000 at any Michigan community college, university or other approved training program.
The Delta College Fast Start Program is one of the best examples of No Worker Left Behind's effectiveness. The program is a partnership between the Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth (DELEG), Great Lakes Bay Michigan Works! Agency, Delta Community College, and four companies: Dow Chemical, Dow Corning, Evergreen Solar, and Hemlock Semiconductor.
This partnership developed a program to address the need for chemical process operators by the four companies. Chemical process operators work on cutting-edge technology such as creating the photovoltaic material used in solar panels.
Thirty-seven of the 40 people who completed the program in the first two training classes are now employed at one of the four companies, an employment rate of 93 percent. This fall, nearly 50 more students will be training for this career.
"The phenomenal success of the Delta College Fast Start Program confirms that strong employer-community partnerships are an essential ingredient for Michigan's future success," said Andy Levin, deputy director of DELEG. "Aligning education with employment opportunities is a common-sense approach that is paying dividends for the people of Michigan."
The Obama administration recently awarded DELEG an additional $38 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for No Worker Left Behind through three Regional Economic Impact National Emergency Grants. The DELEG will use the grants to train 8,644 Michigan workers in 27 different counties severely impacted by the recession.
To learn more about the No Worker Left Behind initiative, visit the No Worker Left Behind Web site at www.michigan.gov/nwlb.
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