WASHINGTON (July 26, 2008) - The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) has been awarded a $1 million High Growth Job Training Initiative grant through the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration (ETA). The funding will help support programs aimed at strengthening Maryland's construction and energy workforce.
ETA's High Growth Job Training Initiative is a government effort to prepare workers to take advantage of new job opportunities in high growth, high demand sectors of the American economy - sectors that are projected to add substantial numbers of new jobs to the economy or that are being transformed by technology and innovation requiring new skills sets for workers. The sectors that have been identified as high growth, high demand are: advanced manufacturing, aerospace, automotive, biotechnology, construction, energy, financial services, geospatial technology, health care, homeland security, hospitality, information technology, retail and transportation.
The announcement was made jointly on Friday by Maryland's two U.S. Senators Barbara A. Mikulski and Benjamin L. Cardin (Both D-Md.).
"To have a safer nation and a stronger economy, we need to have a smarter America. We need to invest in our human capital to create a world class workforce," said Senator Mikulski. "That's why I work to put funds in the federal checkbook to support Maryland initiatives to help train the next generation."
"This grant will help train workers for jobs in the energy industry of the future," said Senator Cardin.? "Maryland is at the forefront in developing renewable and alternative energy sources, and this funding will help Maryland workers get the skills and training for jobs in the energy sector."
ETA received 172 High Growth Job Training Initiative grant applications, and awarded 11 grants.