PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Delaware officials have started a program that aims to get people in the state back into the workforce after many lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Gov. John Carney said Delaware's economy was thriving up until March.
"Delaware's labor was growing at about 4% a year. We added nearly 20,000 jobs from the start of the administration until COVID-19 hit," he said.
Thousands of those jobs have been lost since, so Carney announced a new program called "Forward Delaware" that aims to get people back into the workforce by offering training.
"Our ability to rebound and get Delaware working again will, in part, be due to our ability to provide training for individuals that need it," he explained.
Delaware Department of Labor Secretary Cerron Cade said this program lets the state "invest in our workers," especially those in five high-demand fields: IT, food services, health care, transportation and logistics, and construction.
The state is partnering with training providers as well as companies in these fields looking to hire.
"To figure out how we can best direct a rapid training strategy to provide career certifications and other steps to individuals looking to transition and move into another area and looking to upscale in an industry they're already in," said Cade.
He expects the training will last several months.
"Our purpose here is to help move our state forward and we're not going to be able to do that unless we move Delawareans forward," added Cade.
The state is setting aside $10 million of CARES Act funding to make "Forward Delaware" possible.
