NEWS
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NOVA WORKFORCE BOARD RECEIVES $7 MILLION GRANT TO SERVE
DISLOCATED WORKERS IN SILICON VALLEY
Sunnyvale, CA (11/13/01) -- Governor Gray Davis
awarded the NOVA Workforce Board a job training grant of $7 million to provide
employment and training services to dislocated workers in Silicon Valley. This grant is the eleventh in a series of annual
funding authorized by the State of California, and will enable NOVA to continue
the program known as STAR (Skills Testing • Assessment • Reemployment). The STAR program provides services for dislocated workers who need
additional training to be competitive in the job market. STAR has been in operation since 1989 and has helped an estimated
15,000 individuals become re-employed. The grant funds will be used to provide
customized retraining and placement activities to individuals laid off from
local companies.
"These are hard-working, highly-skilled
workers," Governor Davis said. "The purpose of this grant is to keep
people working by moving laid-off workers back into the workforce."
The unemployment rate in the Bay Area is almost 6%,
and achieving a living wage is a challenge many displaced workers must face in
Silicon Valley. NOVA's innovative and effective training system equips job
seekers with skills to allow them a competitive edge in the current job market.
The role of NOVA in this environment is to connect workers to the skills they
need to re-enter the job market and survive in today's economy. Mike Curran,
Director of NOVA, is pleased the STAR program was chosen as the beneficiary of
state funding. "This funding is critical to the community, and it offers
NOVA the opportunity to continue to serve Silicon Valley's transitioning
workforce," he said.
The City of Sunnyvale administers NOVA's programs on
behalf of a seven-city consortium of Cupertino, Los Altos, Milpitas, Mountain
View, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale. NOVA's services are free to
eligible individuals who have been part of a company layoff or closure and are
in need of reemployment services. For more information contact NOVA at (408)
730-7232 or visit their website at www.novaworks.org.
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