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DEED Grants Aim to Close the Gender Gap, Support Minnesota Women
~$475,000 awarded to statewide groups that will prepare and place over 200 women in careers~
ST. PAUL – The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has awarded $475,000 in Women and High-Wage, High-Demand, Nontraditional Jobs Grant Program grants to eight organizations that will prepare and place women in new career opportunities.
The program is an outgrowth of the Women’s Economic Security Act, which was signed into law by Governor Mark Dayton earlier this year to break down the barriers to economic success faced by some Minnesota women. Among the goals of the measure is to close the gender pay gap and to encourage women to enter nontraditional fields.
“DEED’s new program is an opportunity to support working families and support women to share in the prosperity that Minnesota has experienced since the end of the recession,” said DEED Commissioner Katie Clark Sieben. “More than 200 women are expected to benefit from this program with new careers in nontraditional, high-demand fields.”
Officials estimate that 40 percent of the gender pay gap is attributed to women doing different work from men and the lower value placed on female-dominated work. The Women and High-Wage, High-Demand, Nontraditional Jobs Grant Program will focus on training and placing women in high-paying fields that are typically dominated by men, such as STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and construction.
The following is a breakdown of the funding awards:
METRO
Goodwill-Easter Seals of Minnesota, St. Paul, $72,450
The program will target the following occupations: cement masons and concrete finishers, carpenters, painters, construction workers and laborers, and maintenance workers.
YWCA of St. Paul, $72,450
Participants will train to earn commercial driver’s licenses.
Dunwoody College of Technology, Minneapolis, $72,450
Participants will study for associate degrees in construction sciences and building technology, computer technology, and robotics and manufacturing technology.
YWCA of Minneapolis, $13,500,
Students will participate in Girls Inc., a program that helps girls set and achieve goals, confront challenges, resist peer pressure, see college as attainable and explore nontraditional fields such as STEM.
GREATER MINNESOTA
Lake Superior College, Duluth, $63,500
The program will focus on truck driving and carpentry.
Central Minnesota Jobs and Training, Monticello, $36,300
Job shadowing and other career exploration will be offered for women who want to work in software development, welding, industrial machinery, mechanics, truck driving and heavy equipment mechanics.
White Earth Indian Reservation, White Earth, $72,450
Participants will train for jobs in welding and truck driving.
Workforce Development Inc., Rochester, $71,900
This project will train women for jobs in welding, computer-controlled machine tool operation and machining.
DEED is the state’s principal economic development agency, promoting business recruitment, expansion and retention, workforce development, international trade and community development. For more details about the agency and our services, visit us at http://mn.gov/deed/ . Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/mndeed .
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