The United States Department of Labor awarded the Los Rios Community College School District a grant with a total of $5 million in January that may benefit students. 

The grant is called the Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grant. The department gave out over $40 million in grant money split between 11 institutions. 

The department also added more information when it comes to the grant. 

The grant aims to build the capacity of community colleges to collaborate with employers and the public workforce development systems to meet local and regional market demand for a skilled labor force, according to the United States Department of Labor’s website.

The grant also builds the capacity of community colleges to address challenges associated with the COVID-19 health crisis, such as expanding online and technology-enabled learning and migrating services to a virtual environment, according to the Department of Labor’s website. 

Josef Preciado, the interim director of the workforce department, said that students who are enrolled as select majors will benefit from this grant. 

“The main people who will benefit the most from the grant are business technology majors or any similar majors at all four Los Rios colleges,” Preciado said. 

Preciado also said the grant will impact all four Los Rios Colleges. 

“We will use the grant to expand employer engagement and enhance and accelerate business technology programs districtwide to address a growing demand for qualified business administration professionals in the public sector workplace,” Preciado said. 

Preciado went on to detail the main people that helped secure the grant. The people involved are all a part of the LRCCD. 

“All four colleges and the LRCCD were involved in developing the project including managers and Instructional faculty. The grant writing team included Sue Byrne, director of grant management, Cynthia Summer, interim associate dean of special projects, and myself,” Preciado said. 

The grant was only given to a handful of institutions, with even fewer getting the full amount. 

“This is the first time the SCCTG grant was offered. ARC is one of only 11 institutions nationwide that was awarded the grant. Only four were given the full amount of $5 million, including ARC,” Preciado said.

Preciado says the grant can help students reach rewarding careers in the business administration-related field. 

“At its core, this grant project is about regional economic prosperity and developing programs that are valuable, in-demand, and that allows members of the Los Rios community to better provide for themselves and their families,” Preciado said. “By revamping and aligning curriculum with in-demand, living wage jobs we believe students will be fast-tracked into careers students feel will be rewarding.”