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$4 Million for job training

Shared grant for Pima, Cochise and Santa Cruz Counties
Posted at 7:34 PM, Jan 29, 2021
and last updated 2021-01-30 16:00:08-05

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — KGUN9’s Rebound program is dedicated to helping you bounce back from the effects of the pandemic---and maybe be better off. Now Pima, Santa Cruz and Cochise Counties are getting four million dollars to help you train for a better job.

COVID cost a lot of people their jobs, especially if they worked in in-person jobs hard to do through a Zoom screen.

Dan Sullivan of Pima County’s One-Stop Job program says, “There have been layoffs, across the board, you know since the pandemic. So folks from the hospitality industry, folks from leisure travel, or you know just people who have been struggling for a long time and are looking to get into a job to support them and their families.”

Sullivan says now the US Department of Labor is giving four million dollars to job training programs in Pima, Santa Cruz and Cochise Counties for a shared program to help job seekers upgrade their skills. There’s an emphasis on skills in high demand---and an opportunity to shift to new careers that may be less vulnerable to a pandemic.

“Arizona's Office of Economic Security shows that the top seven highest demand industries are manufacturing and I-T for Southern Arizona. So that also gives an additional justification why, you know, we want to scale and focus towards these industries.”

Sullivan says they’re still organizing the program tied to the four million dollar grant---but you don’t have to wait to start training for a better, more secure job there are programs ready to help right now that can tie into the grant program when it’s ready.