US Labor Department awards $1.3M in incremental funding for Arkansas’ clean-up, recovery efforts after severe summer storms in 2015

State: Arkansas

Type of Award: National Dislocated Worker Grant

Initial Amount Approved: $2,200,000

Incremental Amount Awarded: $1,332,62

Funding Awarded to: Arkansas Department of Workforce Services

Number of Workers Served: Approximately 111

Use of Funds: The U.S. Department of Labor approved a National Dislocated Worker Grant award for up to $2,200,000, with $740,000 released initially on August 27, 2015, to create temporary jobs for eligible individuals to assist with clean-up and recovery efforts after severe storms affected Arkansas’ western region from May 7 to June 15, 2015. The project’s recovery activities target the following counties: Crawford, Franklin, Independence, Izard, Madison, Marion, Nevada, Newton, Polk, Scott and Searcy.

With this incremental award, the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services will receive $1,332,622 to continue this recovery effort, bringing the total funds awarded to date for this project to $2,072,622.

Background: Supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, NDWGs temporarily expand the service capacity of dislocated worker training and employment programs at the state and local levels by providing funding assistance in response to large, unexpected economic events which cause significant job losses. NDWGs generally provide resources to states and local workforce investment boards to reemploy laid-off workers quickly by offering training to increase occupational skills.