New RI Jobs Program to Support Training for Jobs that "Actually Exist Now"

It has been said that Rhode Island doesn’t really suffer from a lack of jobs, but a lack of potential employees with the right skills for jobs that actually exist here.

Particularly in the maritime, high-tech industrial and skilled manufacturing industries, many of the state’s big employers complain about having to search beyond this tiny state’s borders to find good workers.

On Friday, Governor Gina Raimondo announced the Real Jobs Rhode Island program, which she said is ”demand-driven initiative” that “puts employers at the center of the state’s workforce development efforts to train people for jobs that actually exist now.”

The program gets off the ground initially with 21 grants that have just been doled out to a mix of companies and organizations that can help build and enhance a pipeline to deliver training and resources to workers tailored for Rhode Island’s unique economy.

The 21 Real Jobs Rhode Island planning grants, totaling $479,000, will provide funding to support the creation of “Strategic Industry Partnerships.,” according to a statement from the Governor’s office.

The groups will identify the training, education and human resource solutions needed to address their business needs as well as the action plans to implement these solutions.

The recipients include companies in the biotechnology, construction, defense, design, fishing, healthcare, marine trade, hospitality and manufacturing industries, among others.

For a complete list of the recipients and details about their grant proposals click here.