August 8, 2022 3:00 a.m.MM

On Thursday, Congressman Peter DeFazio announced that the U.S. Economic Development Administration is awarding a $3.4 million American Rescue Plan Good Jobs Challenge grant to the Southwestern Oregon Workforce Investment Board in Coos Bay.

A release said the grant will help develop the Driving Prosperity program focused on career training and job placement for the trucking industry.

DeFazio said “This grant will help employers fill jobs in the crucial trucking industry in Southwestern Oregon and create economic opportunity in communities and rural areas hungry for good-paying jobs”. DeFazio said, “This EDA investment will help the Southwestern Oregon Workforce Investment Board and industry partners train hundreds of new truck drivers that will expand the diversify of the workforce to help address supply-chain shortages across the entire Pacific Northwest”.

The release said the program is awarding $500 million in grants to 32 worker-centered industry-led workforce training partnerships to help accelerate economic recovery expand opportunity, and support innovative approaches to localized industry-led worker-center training programs.