Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

State to get $3 million for aerospace training

Gov. Chris Gregoire speaks Tuesday at the Boeing Co. assembly facility in Renton. Gregoire announced $3 million in funding to help workers develop the skills needed by aerospace employers such as Boeing.
Ted S. Warren
/
AP
Gov. Chris Gregoire speaks Tuesday at the Boeing Co. assembly facility in Renton. Gregoire announced $3 million in funding to help workers develop the skills needed by aerospace employers such as Boeing.

Governor Chris Gregoire is directing that $3 million in federal Workforce Investment Act funds go to aerospace training programs in Washington.

She made the announcement Tuesday while speaking from a balcony overlooking the 737 line at Boeing's Renton factory.

Her office says $1.6 million will go to specific training and placement in aerospace jobs; $1 million will pay for equipment and materials for students; $300,000 will buy equipment for the Aerospace Training and Research Center in Renton and the Inland Northwest Aerospace Technology Center in Spokane; and $100,000 will go to the Washington Scholars Program to encourage high school students to study engineering in college.

The governor's office says training could help some of the 228,000 jobless people in Washington find jobs at the 650 aerospace companies in the state.

The Associated Press (“AP”) is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. On any given day, more than half the world’s population sees news from the AP. Founded in 1846, the AP today is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering. The AP considers itself to be the backbone of the world’s information system, serving thousands of daily newspaper, radio, television, and online customers with coverage in text, photos, graphics, audio and video.