June 6, 2005

For Immediate Release:

Headline: Funding Available to Help Local Employers Upgrade Employee Skills

Knoxville, TN, June 6, 2005: Deb Miller, East Tennessee Human Resource Agency Workforce Program Administrator, announced today that there is funding available for local employers in our area to upgrade the skills of their employees through the Incumbent Worker Training program. Local employers may be eligible for grants of up to $50,000 to train their employees new skills. According to Deb Miller, “We hope our local employers will apply for these funds to help their employees upgrade their skills. Ultimately, we hope this will help our local businesses experience new growth and stay competitive. We are very appreciative of Governor Bredesen and TN Department of Labor Commissioner James Neeley for making these funds available to our area.”

The Incumbent Worker Training Program provides grant funding for training for existing “for profit” businesses with at least five full time employees. The program has been structured to be flexible to meet the business' training objectives. The business may use public, private, or its own in-house training provider based on the nature of the training.

More information is available on the internet at http://www.state.tn.us/labor-wfd/et_services_employers.html (scroll to the bottom of the page to Incumbent Worker Training). Businesses located in Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Cumberland, Loudon, Monroe, Morgan, Roane and Scott counties can obtain more information at www.tncareers.org or by contacting your local Tennessee Career Center.