$4.1 Million Grant Will Serve Laid-Off Workers in Dane and Five Surrounding Counties

August 08, 2003
Sharyn Wisniewski (608) 267-8823 Dale Hopkins (608) 249-9001
County Executive

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk today said that laid off workers in Dane County will benefit from re-employment services and training made possible by today’s announcement of a $4.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to the Workforce Development Board of South Central Wisconsin, Inc. (WDB). “These dollars will go to work to help people who have lost their jobs get back to work,” said Falk. The National Emergency Grant is for up to $4,126,936 over two years, with $1,518,362 to be released right away. Falk praised the staff of the WDB of South Central Wisconsin who applied for the grant, which is awarded to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development and passed through to the WDB of South Central Wisconsin. “The National Emergency Grant funds are targeted to address the re-employment needs of area workers who have lost their jobs through recent layoffs and plant or business closings,” said Dale Hopkins, executive director of the WDB of South Central Wisconsin. The WDB of Southcentral Wisconsin serves Dane, Columbia, Dodge, Jefferson, Marquette and Sauk Counties. The grant will serve approximately 1,000 workers who have been laid off from 15 area businesses, and from employment by the State of Wisconsin. The companies include CUNA, Eldon office products, EnChem, Humana, Johnson Controls, JStar, Kmart, Kohl’s Food, Marshall Erdman, Maysteel, Mayville Engineering, Nestles Purina PetCare, Planar, Rayovac, and TAB Products. Re-employment services include job search assistance, vocational counseling, job development, job placement, basic skills training, and skill training. Hopkins said receipt of the grant will free up dollars from other sources to address the needs of other workers laid off since the grant was applied for, including workers from Sentry Foods in Monona and RotoZip. “It is unusual to receive 100 percent of the grant dollars requested, but we received all we had asked for in the grant proposal,” said Hopkins. “It is important that we have the resources we need to make it possible for area workers affected by layoffs find new employment,” said Falk. “Re-employment at comparable wages and fringe benefits is our goal. The excellent work of our Workforce Development Board will be even better with the addition of this grant to our existing funding.” Falk said the county has a well-developed infrastructure to assist workers to become re-employed. Most of the re-employment services are provided at the Dane County Job Center, with most retraining provided at local Technical College campuses or through private trainers. For general employment information in Dane County, individuals can visit the Dane County Job Service office at 1819 Aberg Avenue in Madison to access a variety of state and local employment resources. The job center can also be reached by phone at 245-5390 or on the internet at http://www.danejobs.com/ # # #