The Walmart Foundation has awarded 12 community colleges in the country with a $233,333 grant to train people for "middle-skill" positions in the workforce.
According to The Business Journal, the funding is a part of $3.5 million grant given to community colleges and districts nationwide as part of the Walmart Brighter Future 2.0 Project. The money will be used across the country to help train 9,000 lower-income, lower-skill adults so they can transition to higher-skill and better paying jobs over the next two and a half years.
The Arizona-based League for Innovation in the Community College is administering the Walmart grant program. Delta College in Michigan is one of the community colleges that received the grant.
"We look forward to working with our national League of Innovation colleges and our local business and community partners to improve the condition of working families through the power of education and training," said Jean Goodnow, Delta College president.
The grant will allow Delta to assist 350 people.
Delta College Corporate Services is partnering with Great Lakes Bay Michigan Works! to train adults and young people, especially focusing on jobs skills needed by Nexteer Automotive in Buena Vista Township as well as small manufacturers.
The college will also offer career counseling and skills such as job searching, resume writing and interviewing techniques.
Other community colleges funded nationwide include: Anne Arundel Community College, Md.; Central Piedmont Community College, N.C.; Cuyahoga Community College, Ohio; El Centro College, the Dallas County Community College District, Texas; Kirkwood Community College, Iowa; Maricopa Community College, Ariz; Miami Dade College, Fla.; Moraine Valley Community College, Ill.; Santa Fe College, Fla.; Seattle Community Colleges, Wash.; and, Sinclair Community College, Ohio.
According to the League for Innovation in the Community College website, the Walmart Brighter Futures Project is a cooperative effort between the Walmart Foundation and a select group of the nation's community colleges o helps put thousands of dislocated workers back to work.
