BRINDISI ANNOUNCES SIX-FIGURE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR GRANT FOR UPSTATE WOMEN'S APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS

Statement

Congressman Anthony Brindisi today announced a $716,676 Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) grant award for the Workforce Development Board of Herkimer, Madison, and Oneida Counties, Inc. The funds come from the U.S. Department of Labor's Women's Bureau and the Employment and Training Administration.

The WANTO grant is designed to help recruit, train, and retain more women in quality pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs. It will also expand job opportunities for women in non-traditional fields.

"When we expand job opportunities for women, it gives our whole economy a boost," said Brindisi. "This grant funding will help ensure women across the Mohawk Valley and Central New York have the opportunity to pursue careers in non-traditional fields. It will create good-paying jobs for our area, strengthening our families, our workforce, and our Upstate economy. I will continue working with both parties to deliver important funding like this to our district."

Since his time serving in the New York State Assembly, Brindisi has advocated for good-paying jobs, job training, and employment opportunities for Upstate New York. His SPOONSS Act was signed into law by President Trump in 2019 to help strengthen Upstate manufacturing and bring more jobs and economic activity to NY-22.

The project will develop a pre-apprenticeship pathway to help women build their skills while also addressing the real world balancing act of juggling child care and other responsibilities faced by working women. It plans to help 200 women enter apprenticeships being created across the Mohawk Valley and Upstate New York.

"This grant will allow us to tap into the vast pool of talented women in our region who have the potential to enter the IT and cybersecurity sector, but have not have the training needed to enter apprenticeships that employers are creating all around us," said Alice Savino, executive Director of the WDB. "Upstate New York has always been a region where we have understood and recognized the importance of collaboration and partnerships between employers and our workforce development agencies. This is a time when our region has unlimited potential due to the growth of new high-tech, high-growth career sectors and the resurgence of traditional sectors such as manufacturing. This project has been designed to be the catalyst that helps women connect with education and then connect with good-paying jobs."

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