Maricopa County is adding more funding the ongoing effort to increase Arizona's trades workforce.
The county has already spent $12 million on the program, but the Board of Supervisors recently cleared another $500,000 to be spent on it in hopes of bolstering sectors like manufacturing, healthcare, and construction in the Phoenix metropolitan area, according to a news release.
“The additional funding for the apprenticeship program not only helps residents with an opportunity to obtain skills for a sustainable career, but also helps to meet the workforce needs of growing industries,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Jack Sellers said in a statement.
The money is sourced from the $871 million given to the country through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which was a COVID-19 stimulus package passed early during the Biden administration, the news release added. There is a current goal of having 3,000 go through the program until 2026, and is already about halfway to its goal – as it launched two years ago