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Washington, DC -- Congressman David Davis, Dr. William Locke, President of Northeast State Technical Community College, Charlie Floyd of Domtar Inc., and Parker Smith of Eastman Chemical Company issued the following statement in response to the Department of Labor’s $1,946,563 grant to Northeast State Technical Community College under the President's Community-Based Job Training Grants Initiative:
“I am pleased about this major economic development initiative and I know that the Northeast State, Domtar, and Eastman communities are excited as well,” said Davis, who holds a seat on the House Education and Labor Committee. “To be chosen as one of the sixty-nine community colleges and community-based institutions in America to receive this grant is a great honor for Northeast State.”
President Locke, had the following to say, “This gives Northeast State a wonderful opportunity with its partners Domtar Inc. and Eastman Chemical to construct and equip a world class training facility which will prepare the manufacturing workforce of the future.”
“In conjunction with Domtar and Eastman, this grant is helping Northeast State build a highly successful and knowledgeable workforce in Northeast Tennessee that will benefit our economy, employers, and future generations to come,” Davis added.
Charlie Floyd, Vice President and Mill Manager of Domtar’s Kingsport plant added that “This is a perfect fit for our business partnership efforts here in downtown Kingsport. The funding will help Northeast State provide valuable education and training for local citizens to support ongoing needs of businesses like Domtar. My thanks and appreciation goes to the staff at Northeast State and to the U.S. Department of Labor for supporting this effort!”
Parker Smith, Vice President and General Manager Worldwide Manufacturing Support of Eastman also said that, "Partnerships like this are critical to meeting our future workforce needs. We appreciate Congressman Davis' efforts to help secure this money for our region and we look forward to the positive results it will produce for our company and our community."
Introduced by President Bush in his 2004 State of the Union address, the Community-Based Job Training Grants program seeks to strengthen the role of community colleges in promoting the U.S. workforce's full potential. The grants are employer-focused and build on the President's High Growth Job Training Initiative, a national model for demand-driven workforce development implemented by strategic partnerships between the workforce investment system, employers, and community colleges and other training providers. The primary purpose of the CBJTG grants is to build the capacity of community colleges to train workers to develop the skills required to succeed in high growth/high demand industries.
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