US Department of Labor awards $800K to provide employment, training services for workers displaced by lumber mill closures

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an award of $800,000 to the Montana Department of Labor and Industry for employment and training services for people in Montana affected by the closure of the Pyramid Lumber and Roseburg Forest Products lumber mills in Missoula County. 

Administered by the department’s Employment and Training Administration, the award is the first increment of a National Dislocated Worker Grant of up to $1,988,070 for the state to provide retraining and skills development for dislocated workers primarily in Missoula County, and in Flathead, Lake, Lincoln, Mineral, Powell and Sanders counties and on the Flathead and Blackfeet American Indian reservations.

Supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, National Dislocated Worker Grants provide a state or local board with funding for direct services and assistance in areas experiencing a major economic dislocation event that leads to workforce needs exceeding available resources.