Area colleges receive workforce grants

By Region 8 Newsdesk
Published: Jan. 13, 2022 at 4:42 PM CST|Updated: Jan. 13, 2022 at 6:43 PM CST
NEW ORLEANS, La. (KAIT) – A pair of Region 8 colleges have received grants that will help people receive training in nursing and boat manufacturing.

The Delta Regional Authority announced Thursday that Black River Technical College in Pocahontas and Arkansas State University-Mountain Home would receive the grants as part of the 2021 Delta Workforce Grant Program.

BRTC received $200,000 for the Northeast Arkansas Nursing Workforce Development Initiative.

The plan allows BRTC to partner with St. Bernards Healthcare, Five Rivers Medical, Lawrence Memorial, and Arkansas Methodist Medical Center to create a nursing workforce consortium. By doing so, officials said the group can train 24 practical nursing students each year.

ASU-MH will also receive $200,000 to create the boat manufacturing program. The program will be used to target composites for fiberglass boats and welding for aluminum boats and trailers.

The college will be working with area businesses on the program to train 125 people, create 240 jobs and keep at least 1,000 jobs in the area.

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