Employment and Training Administration January 15, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), announces the availability of approximately $10 million in grant funds for the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Opportunities in the Workforce System Initiative (STEM Initiative). These grants will be awarded through a two-phased competitive process to primarily expand and align current and new STEM workforce education and training strategies, activities, and resources in One Stop Career Centers to promote, attract, and prepare disadvantaged youth and dislocated workers for STEM careers, while simultaneously enhancing the competitive position of local and regional employers. Grants will be awarded to a select number of individual workforce investment boards (WIBs), representing a regional consortium of WIBs. A WIB must submit an application on behalf of a specific, defined multi- county economic region comprised of various workforce investment areas that make up the consortium. Joint applications for regions that cross state lines will be accepted. Applications for multi-state regions must be from an individual WIB that will have responsibility for administering the project. This solicitation contains an exception if the defined region is a rural area or a portion of a state whereby only one WIB exists. In awarding STEM Initiative grants, every effort will be made to fairly distribute grants across rural and urban areas and across the different geographic regions of the United States. It is anticipated that the number of awards will range from five to seven, with the average award ranging from $1.5 million to $2 million. This solicitation provides background information and describes the application submission requirements, outlines the process that eligible entities must use to apply for funds covered by this solicitation, and details how grantees will be selected.