Grant targets Palm Beach, Broward workers hurt by oil spill
By Palm Beach Business.com
TALLAHASSEE – Florida has been awarded a $7 million National Emergency Grant to provide employment-related assistance to workers affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The grant, which will be administered by the Agency for Workforce Innovation, will assist workers in 26 counties, including Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade, projected to be laid off as a result of the oil spill.
On May 6, Gov. Charle Crist sent a letter to President Barack Obama requesting a $50 million emergency grant from the U.S. Department of Labor as part of Florida’s response to the Deepwater Horizon spill. On Wednesday Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis announced the award to Florida.
"The people of Florida who rely on the beaches and waters of the Gulf of Mexico for their livelihoods are hurting,” Crist said in a statement. “I am grateful to Secretary Solis for these funds, which we will put to work as soon as possible in the areas most severely affected by the oil spill.”
The grant will help workers who are laid off as a result of the oil spill to find work and for long-term training services to assist them in finding jobs in other industries.
The counties covered by this funding are Bay, Broward, Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, Miami-Dade, Dixie, Escambia, Franklin, Gulf, Hernando, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lee, Levy, Manatee, Monroe, Okaloosa, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Taylor, Wakulla and Walton.
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