ND Receives Fed Award for Workforce Development
Posted on May 6, 2002

BISMARCK, ND - Gov. John Hoeven announced today that North Dakota is one of 12 states to qualify for incentive awards for the performance of their Workforce Investment Act (WIA), vocational education and adult education programs during the program year that ended June 30, 2001.

North Dakota will receive $750,000, part of the $27.6 million awarded to the following states: Connecticut ($1,652,500), Florida ($3,000,000), Idaho ($975,000), Illinois ($3,000,000), Indiana ($2,896,500), Kentucky ($3,000,000), Maine ($819,000), Massachusetts ($2,887,400), Michigan ($3,000,000), Texas ($3,000,000), and Wisconsin ($2,599,000).

State awards vary according to a state's allocation of funds for the three programs, extent of exceeding negotiated performance levels, changes in economic conditions and participant characteristics, relative performance on all required indicators, and performance on goals deemed priorities.

�I commend the partners of the North Dakota Workforce Development system onthe role they play in attracting jobs to local communities and providing job training, job placement and support services to areas where there is a concentration of unemployed or underemployed,� Hoeven said.

To receive their specified share of the awards, the states must submit an application and describe how they will use the funds before June 30, 2004. Meetings between the Department of Public Instruction, State Board for Vocational and Technical Education, Job Service North Dakota, Department of Human Services and the North Dakota Workforce Development Council are underway to review needs and gaps in service delivery and to discuss and develop innovative, coordinated approaches to addressing these needs and gaps.

�The proposed use of the incentive award funds is to coordinate and integrate these funds with other funding sources to develop customized service approaches to address the needs of targeted populations in the state,� said Jim Hirsch, director of the Workforce Development Division of the North Dakota Department of Commerce. �We want to assist these individuals with moving into job placement or enrollment in training.�

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Contact: Jim Hirsch, ND Workforce Development Council, (701) 328-5345