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February 13, 2006

HEALEY AWARDS $6.5 MILLION IN WORKFORCE TRAINING GRANTS

FALL RIVER – Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey today announced that 73 Massachusetts companies will receive Workforce Training Fund grants totaling $6.5 million to help train nearly 7,800 workers across the state.

“These grants provide Massachusetts employers with the tools to give their workers every competitive advantage in today’s global economy,” said Healey, who announced the grants at Prima CARE, P.C., a Fall River-based health care organization that received $90,030 to train 135 employees.

Healey said the Workforce Training Fund is on track to award nearly 1,670 grants totaling $117 million to upgrade the skills of over 165,000 workers statewide since its inception seven years ago. The Romney administration’s budget included $21 million to fully fund the workforce training program for the upcoming fiscal year.

The Workforce Training Fund, administered by the Department of Workforce Development, provides businesses and labor organizations with matching grants of up to $250,000 to finance incumbent workers training. The fund also offers grants of up to $1 million for companies that meet specific criteria set by the Commonwealth.

Prima CARE will use the funding to train employees in medical billing and coding procedures to help boost productivity and reduce medical billing and coding errors. With two clinics in the Fall River area, the company also plans to promote 24 employees and create new positions as a result of funding.

“This grant will enable Prima CARE to train new employees and retrain present staff in advances in billing and electronic medical records,” said Dr. Americo Almeida, President, Prima CARE, P.C. “Dissemination of information between doctors will save money by preventing service duplication, decreasing errors and fostering better medical care.”

Prima CARE has two walk-in clinics featuring laboratory, X-ray, CT Scan, MRI and state-of-the-art cardiac and nuclear diagnostic testing facilities as well as physician services. The company also offers a range of free preventive screenings to the community.

Jane C. Edmonds, Director of Workforce Development, noted the progress of the fund’s Express and Hiring Incentive Training Grant (HITG) programs. To date,the Expressprogram, which provides matching grants for small businesses, has awarded 655 grants totaling nearly $3 million to train nearly 4,500 workers. For companies who hire and train unemployed workers, the HITG program has awarded nearly 550 grants totaling $1.5 million to train almost 900 workers.

“The WTF programs can help businesses of any size and in any industry skill their employees,” said Edmonds. “I would encourage Massachusetts employers to look into this program because workforce training can pay dividends to a company’s bottom line.”

The following grants were awarded during this latest funding round:

14 grants in Western Massachusetts totaling $1.4 million to train 1,693 workers.
15 grants in Central Massachusetts totaling $1.1 million to train 1,267 workers.
5 grants for Northeast Massachusetts totaling $350,787 to train 270 workers.
26 grants in Greater Boston totaling $2.6 million to train 3,153 workers.
13 grants in Southeast Massachusetts totaling $970,000 to train 1,398 workers.
For a complete listing of grant awards and information on the WTF, visit www.mass.gov/wtf.

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