WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) and U.S. Representative Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) today toured the Finishing Trades Institute (FTI) of the Mid-Atlantic Region in North Philadelphia to meet with students and local employers and discuss a grant of over $5.5 million he supported for FTI. The grant will enable FTI to provide training that will help veterans, unemployed and underemployed workers find jobs in growing industries.
“Ensuring our workers, particularly those in the manufacturing sector, have the skills they need to sustain good paying jobs is critical to America’s competitiveness and the success of our economic recovery,” said Senator Casey. “This grant will help workers gain new skills to find jobs and strengthen Pennsylvania manufacturing.
The grant was made available through the Department of Labor’s Green Jobs Innovation Fund, which awards grants to organizations that help workers receive job training in green industry sectors.
The grant will create a public private workforce development partnership called the FTI Green Certificate Program, which will combine safeguarding the environment with preparing workers for green jobs in the painting, finishing, glazing and weatherization industries.
Additionally, this partnership will provide green job training opportunities to veterans, unemployed and under employed workers, disadvantaged young people and dislocated workers from various manufacturing sectors.
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