Three workforce development organizations in southeastern Wisconsin will receive a total of $3.7 million in funding through the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development’s Worker Advancement Initiative.
In total, 10 organizations across the state will receive nearly $10.3 million through this initiative, Gov. Tony Evers announced on Monday. This is the second round of funding from the Worker Advancement Initiative. It was launched in 2021 with American Rescue Plan Act funds to provide subsidized employment and skills training to individuals whose previous employment has not come back since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are very excited to be working closely with the local workforce development boards that serve people throughout the state of Wisconsin,” DWD Secretary Amy Pechacek said in a news release. “This investment of over $10 million will help people who are struggling to find employment by removing barriers that often can make or break an individual’s ability to get or stay in the workforce and expanding training opportunities in some of our state’s most in-demand fields.”
Employ Milwaukee, which previously received $5.3 million in 2021 through the first round of Worker Advancement Initiative funding, will receive nearly $2 million to support 400 individuals in its BankWork$ program. The eight-week class provides retail banking career training for youth and adults from low-income families and communities of color. The training focuses on skills such as professionalism, forging customer relationships, financial services fundamentals and preparing for employment.
Employ Milwaukee is also partnering with Teens Grow Greens to help young people build local connections, as well as provide horticulture, cooking and environmental justice education through project-based learning.
The Southeastern Wisconsin Workforce Development Board will receive about $610,000 to support Computer Numeric Controlled boot camps through Gateway Technical College and CDL classes through Milwaukee CDL.
The Waukesha-Ozaukee-Washington Workforce Development Board will also receive about $1.1 million to provide 115 individuals with “rapid training and upskilling that blends classroom instruction with work-based learning in sectors such as advanced manufacturing, information technology, health care, child care, professional/business management, and transportation logistics and warehousing,” according to a news release.
