09.29.14

Hoeven Announces Nearly $10 Million in Federal Funding to Support Job-Driven Training Programs at ND Colleges

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven, a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations and Energy Committees, today announced that the U.S. Department of Labor has awarded nearly $10 million to support job-driven energy and related industry training programs at four North Dakota colleges.

Bismarck State College received $4.1 million to lead a consortium of four schools focused on training in the energy, transportation, utility and construction sectors as part of the Training for Regional Energy in North Dakota (TREND) project. The funding is targeted toward the development and expansion of innovative training programs in partnership with local employers. 

Funding is allocated as follows:

Bismarck State College                          $4.1 million

Sitting Bull College                                $1.7 million

Turtle Mountain Community College        $2.1 million

Williston State College                           $1.9 million

                                                           $9.8

“North Dakota’s rapidly growing economy is creating a tremendous demand for skilled workers across a range of fields, especially in the western energy patch,” Hoeven said. “We’re working to help meet the demand for skilled energy workers, as well as for workers in the utility, transportation and construction industries, which are helping to build the housing, roads, electrical grids and other infrastructure our state needs.”

Major private-sector partners in North Dakota include the North Dakota Petroleum Council, Tesoro, WBI Energy, Inc., Bakken Safety Training, Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Montana Dakota Utilities, as well as a number of construction and equipment partners.