Past Funding Opportunities

On July 3, DOL's Employment and Training Administration (ETA) announced the availability of $125 million for the Community-Based Job Training Grants. Eligible applicants are community and technical colleges, community college districts, state community college systems, One-Stop Career Centers, and other entities in areas without access to community colleges. Grantees will build the capacity of community colleges to train for careers in high-growth, high-demand industries in regional economies. Applications are due by August 29, 2006.

ETA anticipates making approximately 75 individual awards, ranging from $500,000 to $2 million each. This solicitation is targeted at “high growth/high demand” industries – please the SGA for more detail on the criteria for determining these industries.

Applicants must propose a combination of capacity building and training activities targeted at local high-growth/high-demand industries in the context of a regional economy. Proposed capacity building strategies are expected to address significant barriers that impede the ability of the community college, or in the case of areas with no community college, the community, to meet local industry demand for workforce training. Training activities must lead to college credit or an appropriate credential.

Applicants must demonstrate that projects will be developed and implemented in the context of a strategic partnership that includes business and industry, the workforce investment system, and the continuum of education, including the K-12 education system, adult education, and four-year colleges and universities.

Note: ETA has published a correction in the August 4, 2006 FEDERAL REGISTER to explain how One-Stop Career Center applicants must apply, and to provide additional clarifications regarding direct training costs, tuition payments, and the leveraging of Workforce Investment Act resources. We urge prospective applicants to review this information.

ETA has also published a number of responses to a number of frequently asked questions that should be helpful to potential applicants. You can access the FAQ pages at:

http://www.doleta.gov/business/SGA-DFA_PY_05-11_FAQ.cfm

The Department of Labor (USDOL) announced the availability of $10 million in grants for the manufacturing sector under the High Growth Job Training Initiative. The application deadline has now been extended to 5PM on August 1, 2006. Applicants may be public, private for-profit, and private non-profit organizations. It is anticipated that individual awards will fall within the range of $750,000 to $1.5 million.

USDOL seeks to fund new and innovate approaches to meeting the workforce challenges of the high-wage, high-growth sectors of advanced manufacturing – defined as the “use of technology or other productivity-enhancing business processes” in a variety of different sub-sectors of manufacturing.

Grant applications for the current round of funding from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service still may be submitted until July 31, 2006, subject to the availability of remaining grant funds. Grant applications are reviewed and rated in the same quarter in which they are received, and grant awards are made on a quarterly basis. Through its grants awards, FMCS seeks to support and encourage workers and employers to explore ways of improving labor-management relationships, job security, and organizational effectiveness. The grant program has funded a broad range of projects including outreach, communications, strategic planning, minority recruitment and process development.

Three union-led partnerships have received funding already in 2006: Electrical Trades in Columbus, OH, received $123,000 to support educational operation labor-management team building at their Joint Apprenticeship and Training Center. The Iowa Health Buyers Alliance, an association of health purchasers – including building trades, public sector, and manufacturing unions – trying to bring down costs and improve quality in the health care industry, was awarded $125,000. FMCS also awarded $114,040 to the Skilled Trades Diversity Council in Ithaca, NY, to support efforts to recruit trainees for the skilled building trades especially among under-represented populations and women.

Application forms can be obtained online at the agency’s Web site: www.fmcs.gov. Interested parties are urged to contact the FMCS Grants Office at (202) 606-8181 with any questions they might have.

Workforce Investment Act – Small Grassroots Organizations Connecting with the One-Stop Delivery System

USDOL’s Employment and Training Administration announced the availability of $4 million for faith-based and community organizations to connect to the one-stop delivery system. The agency anticipates the award of 54 grants in the range of $50,000 to $75,000.

Applications are due by May 2, 2006.

Eligible organizations must be small (less than 10 employees and less than $500,000 budget per year), local (based on the same community where the services are provided), and social-service oriented. The period of performance will be 18 months from the date of execution.

DOL Announces Grant Competition to Test Innovative Training Strategies for Individuals with Limited English Proficiency and Hispanic Americans

The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has announced the availability of approximately $5 million in demonstration grant funds to test unique and innovative training strategies for services to individuals with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) and Hispanic Americans, specifically, those who lack basic and occupational skills needed by high-growth occupations. The demonstration program is targeted to incumbent workers, new job entrants or youth who lack the language, basic skills, and occupational skills necessary to succeed in the workplace. The grant competition emphasizes the use of innovative contextualized learning strategies that simultaneously provide language and occupational skills training that open career opportunities and pathways for LEP and Hispanic Americans.

The Solicitation states that grant funds awarded should be used to develop unique and innovative strategies that specifically address the workforce challenges of LEP individuals and Hispanic Americans. It requires that applications reflect a strategic partnership between the public workforce investment system, the employer community, the education and training community, and, if applicable, community-based or faith-based organizations.

It is anticipated that individual awards will fall within the range of $500,000 to $1 million.

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has announced in the May 3 Federal Register the availability of approximately $125 million in grant funds for in grants to community and technical colleges to support training programs for high-growth job sectors.

The grants, known as Community-Based Job Training Grants, are intended to build the capacity of such institutions to train workers needed for local industries and occupations that are expected to see strong growth, as well as for industries where the demand for qualified workers already is exceeding the supply. Applicants will be expected to demonstrate that their proposal meets the need of a high-growth or high-demand industry and that they have created partnerships with employers, primary and secondary education systems, local workforce investment boards, and other appropriate partners.

Applicants must demonstrate that they comply with the definition of a community college in

20 USC 2371: "The term 'community college' - (A) means an institution of higher education [as defined in 20 USC 1001] that provides not less than a 2-year program that is acceptable for full credit towards a bachelor's degree; and (B) includes tribally controlled colleges and universities."

The Department expects to fund approximately 75 projects, with individual awards expected to in amount from $500,000 to $2,000,000. ETA has stated that in awarding these grants, every effort will be made to fairly distribute grants across rural and urban areas and across different geographic regions of the United States.

ETA will host three virtual prospective applicant conferences on May 9, May 17, 2005 and May 23, 2005. For more information, including links to the Federal Register announcement and information on the prospective applicant conferences, go to:

DOL Announces Workforce Investment Act Demonstration Grants on Prisoner Re-entry Services

On April 1, the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), Employment and Training Administration (ETA), announced the availability up to $19.8 million for grants to eligible faith based community organizations for prisoner re-entry services. The services for returning prisoners will be through an employment-centered program that incorporates mentoring, job training, and other comprehensive transitional services. This program, which involves several Federal agencies, is designed to reduce recidivism by helping inmates find work when they return to their communities, as part of an effort to build a life in the community for everyone.

The Department expects that a total of $19,840,000 will be awarded in initial grants with funding provided for 30 projects. The Department anticipates that FBCOs will receive grants of approximately $660,000 to cover their first year of operations. Applicants may request a larger or smaller amount based on the size of the community to be served, but the announcement states that deviations from this amount must be clearly justified in the application.

Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) announces Fiscal Year 2005 Program Guidelines/Application Solicitation for Labor-Management Committees

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) has published Draft Fiscal Year 2005 Program Guidelines/Application Solicitation for the Labor-Management Cooperation Program. The announcement states that the solicitation contains a change in the application process in an effort to maximize participation under current budget constraints. In the past, applicants were required to submit applications by a fixed date. In FY 2005, the date for application submission will be open, contingent upon availability of funds. Applications will be accepted for consideration after May 15, 2005 and all funds will be awarded by September 30, 2006.

Grants are given to support the establishment and operation of joint labor-management committees comprised of employees and employers covered by a formal collective bargaining agreement in the private and public sectors under the Labor-Management Cooperation Act of 1978. Generally, 12-15 applications are funded each year.

Grantees may receive up to $125,000 for area, industry and public sector categories, and up to $65,000 for plant/company categories. Approximately, $1,000,000 is available through the competitive application process

For more information about the FMCS grant program and the types of activities that may be funded, go to the FMCS website at:

Department of Labor Announces Grant Opportunity for Workforce Investment Boards to Build Partnerships between Faith-Based and Community Organizations and Local One-Stop Delivery Systems

The Department of Labor's Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), have announced the availability up to $5 million for grants to eligible Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) that have demonstrated successfully the ability to form working partnerships with grassroots faith-based and community organizations (FBCOs). Grassroots FBCOs may include faith-based and community organizations, minority-led or immigrant-led non-profit or community development organizations and/ or other small non-profit organizations. The grants are designed to build upon ETA grants from program years (PY) 2001 to 2004 that focused on the use of intermediaries and WIBs to build partnerships between FBCOs and local One-Stop systems. WIBs are being asked to develop and implement an 18-month project to encourage the formation of long-term contractual and non-contractual partnerships with FBCOs that meet an unmet community need related to hard-to-serve populations (e.g., ex-offenders, limited-English, welfare-to work, etc.).

This grant competition is also designed to complement ETA's ongoing sectoral employment research and evaluations--i.e., identifying workforce needs and opportunities within a local or regional industry or cross-industry occupational group while retaining a focus on economic performance and competitiveness. ETA believes that FBCOs can discharge a significant community role in assisting Boards by bringing new entrants to the job market that can be trained and equipped to meet emerging and evolving industry needs. Each applicant Board is being asked to identify up to three businesses or industry sectors to collaborate with the Board and FBCOs within the local One- Stop system to provide jobs for qualified employees from the identified geographic areas.

The Department expects to award approximately 10 to 20 grants based on the rating of applications and other factors, which may include urban/rural and geographical balance. The grant amount for each WIB is expected to range between $300,000 and $500,000. The period of performance will be 18 months from the date of execution by the Department.

Note: See item below for Questions and Answers for this grant and the one below for grassroots organizations.

Grant Availability for Small Grassroots Organizations Connecting with the One-Stop Delivery System

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) will be making $1,000,000 available to eligible “grassroots” organizations with the ability to connect to the local One-Stop delivery system. The term “grassroots” is defined under the Eligibility Criteria.

If you are interested in applying for either of the grants aimed at Faith-based or Community based organizations, you should review the questions and answers and updated material on these grant announcements. The closing date for applications is May 4, 2005.

A number of resource materials helpful to prospective grassroots applicants may be found under the March 25 "What's New" posting on the DOL/ETA website:

HRSA Announces FY 2005 Funding Opportunity for Nursing Workforce Diversity Grants

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) within the Department of Health and Human Services has just announced the Fiscal Year 2005 Program Guidance for the Nursing Workforce Diversity (NWD) Grant Program. HRSA estimates total program funding at $9,060,000 with 33 estimated awards.

The purpose of the Nursing Workforce Diversity (NWD) grant is to provide Federal funding for projects to increase nursing education opportunities for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds (including racial and ethnic minorities underrepresented among registered nurse) by providing student scholarships or stipends, pre-entry preparation and retention activities.

Expected outcomes include increasing nursing education opportunities for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds in order to increase nursing workforce diversity. Eligible entities are: schools of nursing, nursing centers, academic health centers, State or local governments, Indian Tribe or Tribal organizations, other public or private non-profit entities including faith-based organizations and community-based organizations, and for-profit entities capable of carrying out the legislative purpose.

ETA Announces Competition for Demonstration Grants to Address Labor Shortages and Workforce Challenges in Health Care and Biotechnology Industries

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the US Department of Labor has announced the availability of approximately $10 million in demonstration grant funds to address labor shortages, innovative training strategies, and other workforce challenges in the Healthcare and Biotechnology industries as identified through the President's High Growth Job Training Initiative (HGJTI).

The HGJTI is ETA’s strategic effort to prepare workers for new and increasing job opportunities in high growth/high demand and economically vital industries and sectors of the American economy. ETA’s philosophy is that the initiative provides national leadership for a demand-driven workforce system by identifying high growth/high demand industries, evaluating their skills needs, and leveraging the publicly funded workforce system in collaboration with private and public sector partners to ensure that people are being trained with the skills required for positions in these rapidly expanding or transforming industries.

Grant funds awarded under this solicitation are to be used to develop and implement innovative solutions to workforce challenges identified by the Healthcare industry or Biotechnology industry. Each solution should take place in the context of a strategic partnership between the public workforce system, business and industry representatives, and education and training providers such as community colleges. ETA anticipates that individual awards will fall within the range of $750,000 to $1 million. A 50% match is required, half of which must be a cash match provided by the business partners in the proposal.

More information is available in the September 17 Federal Register announcement at

NOTE: The original Federal Register solicitation contained incorrect application requirements, requiring a correction to be published in the September 28 Federal Register. Potential applicants should be sure to check the corrections notice, which contains additional application requirements. The link to that notice is: