WIRED Initiative awards $2.5 million in grants

The Metro Denver WIRED Initiative announced award recipients for its Workforce Innovation Grant program on Jan. 24, 2008. WIRED has awarded approximately $2.5 million to 10 area partnerships proposing innovative talent-development solutions to address industry workforce shortages in the nine-county Metro Denver and Northern Colorado region.

The Workforce Innovation Grant addresses industry needs through education and job training and placement in WIRED’s four targeted industry clusters: aerospace, bioscience, energy, and information technology - software.

Today’s Workforce Innovation Grant awardees include: Arapahoe/Douglas Works; SpaceDev, Inc.; Turnabout; University of Denver, School of Engineering and Computer Science; International Center for Appropriate and Sustainable Technology (iCAST); Front Range Community College; Adams County Workforce and Business Center; Goodwill Industries of Denver; Employment Services of Weld County; and Arts Street.

"These awards truly reflect the needs of our economy by initiating programs that will ensure a broad-range of workers for our targeted industries, from entry-level to college graduates," said Ledy Garcia-Eckstein, executive director of the Metro Denver WIRED Initiative. "Conversely, these programs will help workers gain skills and competencies to upgrade their skills or obtain employment in high-growth industries."

The Workforce Innovation Grant program was developed in response to key research findings about the current and projected workforce and skills needs in the region’s targeted industry clusters. The findings reflect those developed by WIRED’s eight panels of experts, in addition to research findings from reports and an industry survey commissioned by WIRED. All research documents and reports are located online at WIRED's Web site.

"The WIRED grant’s focus on the energy sector has clearly been a catalyst for the Colorado legislature, state government, and many organizations to begin to work together on improving training for the future energy efficiency workers we need," explained Herb Rubenstein, CEO of iCAST. "Colorado is blessed with many small businesses that work in this area. Each one cannot on their own afford to train the workers they need to meet the demand for their services and WIRED training will serve as a catalyst to help meet the growing demand for energy efficiency workers."

Workforce Innovation Grant award winners represent workforce development, entrepreneurship, and other industry-specific employment and training projects in the nine-county WIRED Initiative region, including Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson, Larimer, and Weld Counties. Winners include partnerships between businesses, workforce agencies, and education providers.

"SpaceDev is pleased and honored to have been selected to receive a WIRED grant," said Scott Tibbitts, managing director for SpaceDev, Inc. "With Colorado now the No. 2 state in aerospace employment, we are fertile ground for developing an entrepreneurial aerospace workforce. We are excited to be partnering with the University of Colorado and WIRED to bring the Center for Space Entrepreneurship to life."

Additional funds will be released later this year as part of the Workforce Innovation Grant program. This grant program is the second round of WIRED’s overall subgrant process. In early 2007, WIRED awarded $3.7 million through the JumpStart program to support 10 local projects among existing education, training, entrepreneurship, and other workforce or industry-specific career development partners.

About the Metro Denver WIRED Initiative
The Metro Denver WIRED (Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development) Initiative is a four-year, $15 million regional workforce development grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. Housed at the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, WIRED is developing a pipeline of workers for the nine-county Metro Denver region’s fastest-growing industries, including aerospace, bioscience, energy, and information technology - software. For more information on WIRED, visit www.metrodenver.org/WIRED. For details on the national WIRED program, visit http://www.doleta.gov/.

About the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation
The Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation (Metro Denver EDC) is the region’s leading economic development organization. An affiliate of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Metro Denver EDC was formed to create 100,000 new jobs in the region over five years. To accomplish this mission, the organization spearheaded a fundraising program, raising $13.3 million. The Metro Denver EDC focuses on six areas: national marketing, existing business, mobility, DIA/international air travel, tax reform, and special opportunities. For more information, visit www.metrodenver.org or www.metrodenverGIS.org.