Grant to fund local health, energy careers

Originally published in the Shreveport Times on October 21, 2011

Grant to fund local health, energy careers

Staff reports

Full article available at: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011111021021

The Workforce Innovations in Northwest Louisiana, a funding collaborative led by The Community Foundation of North Louisiana, was selected to receive a $300,000 grant from the National Fund for Workforce Solutions.

WINLA is one of only five sites nationwide to receive the grant, which will help expand its work supporting local, employer-led workforce partnerships designed to prepare workers and jobseekers for sustainable jobs in the local market, according to Margo Shideler, Community Foundation spokeswoman.

The grant, which will be awarded over a two-year period, will allow WINLA to create career paths in the health care and energy industries for unemployed and under-employed individuals in northwest Louisiana, according to Shideler.

She said her organization's research indicates demand for employees in those sectors will outpace the trained workforce supply over the next 10 years.

WINLA includes representatives from business, higher education governmental and labor sectors who have joined with WINLA to identify area workforce needs, she said.