Tacoma’s Workforce Central has received a $360,000 grant from Building Changes, through its Washington Families Fund, for a two year job-training project. The program will recruit and place homeless families into training within the advanced manufacturing industry leading to employment in high-demand careers.
The main training tool will be the successful Manufacturing Academy, a 10-week training program with a 95 percent completion rate and an 85 percent placement rate for graduating participants. The program was developed by and for manufacturing employers needing access to a pipeline of qualified workers, according to a news release this week from Workforce Central. The public-private partnership integrates business, apprenticeship and technical college education to certify graduates with a “general manufacturing” education and the professional skills that employers identified as essential to their workplace.
The participants will be homeless families identified by WorkForce Central through a network of participating housing and workforce programs.
The grant funds will hire a navigator to recruit, assess and place homeless participants into the Manufacturing Academy. The funds also will pay the tuition for the Academy. The anticipated number of participants over the two-year period is 60.
c.r.roberts@thenewstribune.com
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