This week, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced $4.2 million in grants under the Highway Construction Training Program (HCTP) for 16 programs to recruit, train and place highway construction jobs.
Funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the HCTP fills shortages in highway construction, maintenance and operations jobs needed to build and maintain the nation’s roads and bridges.
The grants fund activities to train and employ nearly 1,100 jobs. These new programs include training for heavy duty equipment operators, scholarships for pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs and programs to obtain a commercial driver’s license.
These programs support DOT’s priorities to promote jobs for women, veterans and people with disabilities. These programs also include outreach to help hire people who were previously incarcerated, underemployed or have dropped out of the workforce.
“Investing in our nation’s infrastructure is tantamount to investing in our people. Today’s announcement helps us deliver on the promise of building America’s transportation system by investing in workforce training programs – from operating heavy equipment to obtaining a commercial driver’s license – to bolster the workforce that constructs our nation’s highways,” said Gloria M. Shepherd, acting Federal Highway deputy administrator, in a statement.
The full list of awarded projects is available on FHWA’s website. Projects awarded funding include:
- The Illinois Department of Transportation will receive $288,000 to expand the existing Illinois Highway Construction Careers Training Program.
- Stephens College, a traditionally women’s college in Columbia, Missouri will receive $300,000 to develop a new highway construction training program covering skills such as carpentry, heavy machinery operation, concrete placement, asphalt laying and safety protocols, with an emphasis on recruiting women.
- The Salish Kootenai College (SKC), a tribal college of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai tribes of the Flathead Reservation in Pablo, will receive $293,000 to train and place 90 individuals from underrepresented and underemployed backgrounds in highway construction skills.
- The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) will receive $300,000 for a workforce development initiative for the Kensington Expressway Project in Buffalo.
- Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh will receive $300,000 for a project that will train approximately 50 workers and 100 undergraduate and graduate students in heavy-duty equipment operators, safety managers, data engineers and project information managers.
Source: U.S. Department of Transportation
