The Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund will provide up to $500,000 to the Berkshire Region to develop a sectoral training strategy for critical industries in the region. The Berkshire County Regional Employment Board, Inc. will be taking the lead in developing a strategy for the healthcare and applied technology industries in our regoin. The BCREB will also be partnering with Older Worker Community Based Organizations to apply for an older worker component to assit the travel/tourism and retail industries. For more information, please contact Heather Boulger at (413) 442-7177.

The Workforce Training Fund provides up to $250,000 in resources to Massachusetts businesses to train current and newly hired employees.

The Workforce Training Fund Express is targeted to small employers -- with 50 employees or less -- and labor organizations. Applicants must choose a training course or program from a pre-approved training directory. Applications may be submitted online at any time. Grants are up to $3,000 per employee per course and up to $15,000 per year per employer.

The WTF Hiring Incentive Training Grant Program is open to all employers. It provides training grants of up to $2,000 per employee and up to $30,000 a year per company. This program assists in paying training costs for newly hired employees who have been unemployed over a year and those that do not have a call back date from their last employer.

FY2007 Workplace Education Planning Grant RFP through the Department of Education. Please submit all questions regarding this RFP to this email address FY2007WorkplaceEducationPlanningGrantFAQ@doe.mass.edu until Friday January 19, 2007 at 12:00 p.m. Both questions and answers will be posted to the ACLS website.