WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-3), and Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty (D-5) announced that the Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board (NRWIB) is receiving a $4 million federal grant to support workforce training throughout Connecticut. This support, provided by the Department of Labor, will go toward the NRWIB’s ITXpress Program to provide training and support services for 400 people to help connect them with IT jobs. Customized for each participant, the program may include bootcamp training, internships, apprenticeships, mentoring, transportation and childcare assistance, as well as follow-up support, to help participants secure employment in the industry. The lawmakers sent a letter in March in support of the program’s grant application and urging the Department of Labor to give the application its full and fair consideration. 

“IT jobs like computer programming and software development are growing rapidly, and opening doors to well-paid, stable careers for workers across Connecticut,” said Murphy. “I can’t wait to see this $4 million grant help 400 Connecticut residents get the training and skills they need to succeed in this growing field.”

“By boosting the innovative ITXpress Program, this support will help people across Connecticut secure high-tech, high-paying jobs,” Blumenthal said. “From hands-on apprenticeships to childcare assistance, this individually customized program will ensure its hardworking participants have the support they need to get ahead.” 

“This new grant will help expand and fulfill growing demand for high-skilled workers in Connecticut’s technology industry, enabling more students to receive training, credentialing, and job placement services,” said DeLauro. “We must continue to invest in programs like ITXpress that provide opportunities for students to develop skills for well-paying jobs. I will continue to fight for more funding in Congress to ensure workers receive the training needed to be successful and strengthen our state’s workforce.”

“The workforce training programs supported by this grant will help folks in Waterbury and across Connecticut break into the high-tech, 21st-century careers,” Esty said. “That’s a win for hardworking families and a win for our state’s small businesses, who will benefit from a better-trained and more diverse pool of talented workers.”

This support is part of $150 million in Department of Labor grants announced by the Obama Administration today for 39 partnerships across the country. With these funds, awardees will launch innovative training and placement models to develop tech talent, as a way to keep and create jobs in local economies. In addition to federal funding, grantees are leveraging nearly $50 million in philanthropic, private and other funding to contribute to their own local partnerships.