Northern Essex Community College, with campuses in Haverhill and Lawrence, was formally awarded a $735,000 state workforce grant Monday to support training programs in high-demand industries, such healthcare, education, manufacturing, information technology and cybersecurity.
All 15 state community colleges, including nearby North Shore Community College and Middlesex Community College also received $735,000 each. Gov. Charlie Baker said the grants are aimed at eliminating the gap between what “skills the Massachusetts workforce has, and what skills employers need.”
“These grants complement our administration’s ongoing work to address the skills gap by building additional training capacity at all the Commonwealth’s community colleges so people have opportunities to gain hands-on skills and knowledge in growing industries,” Baker said.
Bunker Hill Community College and the Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges will jointly administer the grants with the state Executive Office of Education and in consultation with the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development and the regional Workforce Investment Boards.
Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Rosalin Acosta said, “Our partnerships with community colleges across the Commonwealth are so important to the work we are doing to train the unemployed and underemployed for meaningful, long-lasting careers.”
The training programs strive to help populations who have traditionally experienced higher rates of unemployment and barriers to employment identified by the Black Advisory Commission and the Latino Advisory Commission, with priority given to those who are unemployed and underemployed.
Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges will collaborate with the Executive Office of Education to allocate the remaining $3.45 million to community colleges based on local student enrollment demand for the training programs.