GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T has landed a $23.7 million federal grant for workforce development, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced early Wednesday.

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University’s grant will focus on energy and resiliences, the agency disclosed.

“At the intersection of good jobs, clean energy, and equity, STEPs4GROWTH is addressing growing regional demand and propelling North Carolina into a clean energy future,” according to the grant award announcement.

” Led by North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (N.C. A&T), the largest Historically Black College and University in the nation, the project will span 16 distressed counties in the state, including ten Tier 1 counties encompassing “Black Belt” rural communities. Employers in the coalition include but are not limited to Siemens Energy, Duke Energy, Blue Ridge Power, and Strata Clean Energy. With a focus on equity, the coalition will utilize mobile training units in these rural areas to remove barriers to access and meet workers where they are. This coalition’s efforts can be used as a replicable model for providing quality, demand-driven training for the growing clean energy sector across the U.S.”

The grant was one of 32 awarded as part of a $500 million Good Jobs Challenge administered by the Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration. The pgraom is designed to help develop “innovative approaches to workforce development that will secure job opportunities for more than 50,000 Americans.”

NC A&T was selected from more than 500 applicants.

“This funding will advance a broad range of sectors—including agriculture and food production, energy and resilience, healthcare, manufacturing and information technology—jumpstarting the design, development, implementation, and expansion of training programs that are tailored specifically to each community,” the Commerce department said.

The other recipients

Also selected were:

(Project summaries are available via hyperlinks.)

Alaska Primary Care Association (Alaska)

Grant: $9.7 million

Industry focus: Healthcare

Charleston Chamber Foundation (South Carolina)

Grant: $8.4 million

Industry focus: Healthcare

Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership (Illinois)

Grant: $18.5 million

Industry focus: Healthcare; Manufacturing; Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics; Information Technology

City of Birmingham (Alabama)

Grant: $10.8 million

Industry focus: Healthcare

City of New York Human Resources Administration (New York)

Grant: $18.6 million

Industry focus: Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics; Building and Construction

City of Springfield (Missouri)

Grant: $17.5 million

Industry focus: Healthcare; Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics; Education

Dallas College (Texas)

Grant: $8.8 million

Industry focus: Bio-medical

Economic Development and Industrial Corporation of Boston (Massachusetts)

Grant: $23 million

Industry focus: Healthcare; Energy and Resilience; Childcare

Florida Gulf Coast University Board of Trustees (Florida)

Grant: $22.9 million

Industry focus: Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics; Healthcare; Manufacturing; Education

Foundation for California Community Colleges (California)

Grant: $21.5 million

Industry focus: Forestry and Fire Safety

 Fresno County Economic Development Corporation (California)

Grant: $23 million

Industry focus: Professional and Financial Services; Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics; Manufacturing; Building and Construction

Hampton Roads Workforce Council (Virginia & North Carolina)

Grant: $11 million

Industry focus: Water and Blue Economy; Energy and Resilience

Illinois Central College (Illinois)

Grant: $14.6 million

Industry focus: Information Technology

Lakota Funds (South Dakota) 

Grant: $5 million

Industry focus: Building and Construction

Maryland Department of Labor (Maryland)  

Grant: $22.9 million

Industry focus: Energy and Resilience

Miami Dade College (Florida) 

Grant: $10 million

Industry focus: Information Technology

Mid-South Center for Occupational Innovation (Arkansas, Mississippi, & Tennessee)

Grant: $21.5 million

Industry focus: Building and Construction; Manufacturing; Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics

Nevadaworks (Nevada) 

Grant: $14.9 million

Industry focus: Healthcare; Information Technology; Manufacturing; Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics

North Central New Mexico Economic Development District (New Mexico)

Grant: $6.4 million

Industry focus: Healthcare; Building and Construction

Office of Workforce Strategy (Connecticut)

Grant: $23.9 million

Industry focus: Manufacturing; Healthcare; Information Technology; Bio-medical

Ohio Manufacturers’ Association Educational and Industrial Development Institute (Ohio)

Grant: $23.5 million

Industry focus: Manufacturing

Persevere (Tennessee) 

Grant: $15.4 million

Industry focus: Information Technology

Philadelphia Works, Inc. (Pennsylvania)

Grant: $22.8 million

Industry focus: Healthcare; Building and Construction; Energy and Resilience

Southwestern Oregon Workforce Investment Board (Oregon) 

Grant: $3.4 million

Industry focus: Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics

The Chamber Foundation(Minnesota & North Dakota)

Grant: $9.6 million

Industry focus: Agriculture and Food Production; Information Technology; Manufacturing

UnidosUS (Puerto Rico & Colorado)

Grant: $11.4 million

Industry focus: Aerospace & Defense; Building and Construction; Professional and Financial Services

United Way of Central Iowa (Iowa)

Grant:  $1.8 million

Industry focus: Healthcare

University of Hawaii (Hawaii)

Grant: $16.4 million

Industry focus: Healthcare; Information Technology; Energy and Resilience; Film, Arts, & Media

Washington Student Achievement Council (Washington)

Grant: $23.5 million

Industry focus: Healthcare; Information Technology; Professional and Financial Services; Energy and Resilience; Manufacturing; Building and Construction

 Workforce Solutions Rural Capital (Texas)

Grant:  $12.1 million

Industry focus: Building and Construction; Information Technology; Healthcare

WTIA Workforce Institute (Alabama, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington)

Grant: $23.5 million

Industry focus: Information Technology