US Department of Labor announces grant to assist Minnesota workers affected by grocery chain layoffs

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a National Emergency Grant totaling $838,390 to assist about 200 workers affected by layoffs at the headquarter offices of SUPERVALU located in Eden Prairie and Stillwater, Minn.

"Former workers of SUPERVALU face a challenge in finding jobs comparable to the ones they lost," said acting Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training Gerri Fiala. "The Labor Department's grant will help these individuals to update current job skills or train for a new occupation in expanding sectors of the state's economy."

Awarded to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, the grant will be operated by HIRED. HIRED is a workforce development organization in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area that has 16 offices to provide employment services to the community. Under the grant, affected workers will have access to dislocated worker services, such as individual career counseling, skills assessment, skill upgrades, occupational skills training and job search assistance.

In March 2013, the workers at SUPERVALU received a notice under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act that about 587 workers would be affected by layoffs between May 28 and Sept. 27, 2013. SUPERVALU, one of the largest grocery wholesalers and retailers in the United States, significantly reduced the size of the company after selling several of its retail stores. The scaled-back retail operations led to layoffs of corporate headquarters staff, a majority of whom were employed in Eden Prairie.

National Emergency Grants are part of the secretary of labor's discretionary fund and are awarded based on a state's ability to meet specific guidelines. More information is available at www.doleta.gov/NEG/.