$2 million grant funds TCC worker-training partnership

Tacoma Community College, in partnership with Tacoma Goodwill, Yakima Valley College and Lower Columbia College, will receive nearly $2 million dollars in funding from the U.S. Department of Labor for a three-year grant to help train workers needed in the warehousing and distribution industry in Tacoma, Longview and Yakima.

The training will be broadcast simultaneously from Tacoma to classrooms in Longview and Yakima, connecting the college’s existing logistics and transportation management program to rural communities.

More than 25 community and non-profit partners will work to recruit and serve 450 veterans, displaced workers, disadvantaged adults and youth, through job training that includes a work readiness credential, customer service certification and college courses towards a General Warehouse Clerk Certificate.

These funds are part of the U.S. Dept of Labor’s Community-Based Job Training Grants program, which is designed to improve the ability of community colleges to provide their regions’ workers with the skills needed to enter growing industries. Tacoma Community College will serve as the fiscal agent and project manager for this grant, working with the 25 partners to ensure all performance outcomes are achieved.

TCC’s proposal was one of 68 recipients selected nationwide.