Today, I announced that Los Angeles will be using $7 million in grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to train 2,000 workers in high-growth, high-wage industries such as construction, transportation, public safety, healthcare and green jobs. These dollars will be strategically allocated to train our next generation of workers in sectors that will lead our recovery efforts, provide career paths, and pay living wages. This is just one example of how the City of Los Angeles is using federal stimulus money to create new jobs and get our economy back on track. We are also using recovery funds to update our power grid, bring high-speed rail to Southern California, increase broadband access in underserved areas, and provide much-needed tax relief for working Angelenos.
I made the announcement this morning at Grifols, a global healthcare company that recognizes the importance of a trained, skilled workforce. Grifols has already hired ten high-growth sector trainees from Los Angeles Trade Technical College and they are committed to hiring many more students through the BioTech Training Program. All throughout Los Angeles, people are taking advantage of opportunities to train or be retraining in new high-tech, growth sectors that are hiring now.
That's because Los Angeles is already benefitting from the $43.7 million in stimulus funds we received towards workforce development recovery efforts. We've spent $11 million on summer jobs for young people. We've allocated $7 million to the City's 18 WorkSource Career Centers and $5 million to the 13 OneSource Youth Employment Centers that have provided a variety of workforce services to 2,000 jobseekers, laid off workers, and youth.
We are working hard to invest in you, our local workforce, and help Angelenos develop the skills necessary for promising jobs in high growth industries -- but we cannot emerge from this recession alone.
More than ever, we are encouraging unemployed persons and job seekers to invest in themselves and take advantage of the resources we are offering at places like WorkSource Centers or OneSource Centers. It's easier than you might think to earn a training certificate and start climbing the career ladder in promising, high-growth jobs.
The recovery will take time, but we are investing in you now. The recovery act is helping the City of Los Angeles train workers for a 21st century economy. If you are an unemployed worker or job-seeker, I encourage you to visit a WorkSource or OneSource Center and get on the path to recovery. For more information, call 311 or click here.
Cross-posted at mayor.lacity.org
Follow Antonio Villaraigosa on Twitter: www.twitter.com/villaraigosa
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