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Grant to Help Support Workforce Training in Mississippi
 
U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) made the announcement Tuesday.
 
By Zac Carlisle
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WTVA) - Almost $1 million will help ensure Mississippi increases its access to skilled workers for the state’s growing manufacturing sector.
 
U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) made the announcement Tuesday.
 
The grant totals $730,559 and comes from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC).
 
ARC recently announced the Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) grant to the Starkville-based Golden Triangle Planning and Development District (GTPDD) to support workforce training and education in manufacturing.
 
“I hope this ARC grant will help create opportunities for workers to get the skills they need to fund full-time, well-paid jobs,” the senator said.
 
GTPDD will work with three community colleges and private-sector businesses to implement a manufacturing training program based on the Mississippi Works Smart Start Career Pathway Model to increase the skilled workforce in Choctaw, Kemper, Webster, and Winston counties.
 
In Mississippi, ARC jurisdiction covers these 24 counties: Alcorn, Benton, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Clay, Itawamba, Kemper, Lee, Lowndes, Marshall, Monroe, Montgomery, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Panola, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Tippah, Tishomingo, Union, Webster, Winston, and Yalobusha.