$5.4 Million Available to Help Businesses Train & Hire Formerly Unemployed Individuals

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo this week announced that $5.4 million is available to help businesses grow by training and hiring formerly unemployed individuals. Overseen by the Governor’s successful Unemployment Strikeforce, the funding is available to businesses in amounts of up to $100,000 to support a variety of essential worker training programs.

This $5.4 million is available to businesses looking to expand their workforce and can be used for On-the-Job, Apprenticeship or Customized training, depending on the individual needs of the employer. The Governor’s Unemployment Strikeforce has staff who will work with all interested parties to develop programs best suited to their business and secure all funding and other incentives for which that business is eligible.

The Governor’s Unemployment Strikeforce was piloted in the Bronx in May 2014 and charged with two goals:

1. Find a way to reduce the unemployment rates in the counties with the persistently highest levels (12-month average) of unemployment.

2. Ensure that we are investing our workforce development funding wisely. A real job must be waiting at the end of the training the State is investing in.

Since then, more than 7,000 people from the Bronx have been placed in jobs through the initiative. An additional 1,300 individuals were connected to work in Jefferson and Lewis counties under the Strikeforce.

For more information and to learn how you can apply for funding, please visit www.labor.ny.gov/strikeforce.