Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Labor announced an award of more than $121 million in Apprenticeship Building America grants to strengthen and modernize Registered Apprenticeship programs, enabling workers to find reliable pathways to the middle class. The department awarded more than $58 million of the total funding to grantees focusing on equity partnerships and pre-apprenticeship activities.

“The funding of $121.7 million in Apprenticeship Building America grants reaffirms and advances the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to strengthening and expanding registered apprenticeships,” said secretary of labor Marty Walsh. “The Apprenticeship Building America grants will develop new pathways to good-quality jobs and provide America’s workers with opportunities to access and succeed in those pathways; and the intentional focus on equity partnerships and pre-apprenticeship activities will create opportunities for underrepresented and underserved communities.”

The Apprenticeship Building America grant program advances the department’s efforts to expand and modernize registered apprenticeship by increasing the number of programs and apprentices, diversifying the industries that use registered apprenticeship and improving access to and performance of registered programs for underrepresented and underserved communities.

The department announced the availability of funding through the Apprenticeship Building America program on February 23, 2022. Thirty recipients of the Apprenticeship Building America grants will incorporate cross-cutting principles to ensure access to quality programs, including equity, job quality, sustainability, evidence-based approaches and new opportunities for innovation, engagement and ease of access.

Funding was awarded in four categories:

Among those programs that received grants were Project L.I.F.T. Inc. in Palm City, Fla.; the Reset to Success Foundation, an outreach arm of the Midwest Career Source in Belleville, Ill.; and Chicago Women in Trades.

To see the full list of recipients, CLICK HERE.