City to apply for $17.5M workforce training grant 

Springfield City Council unanimously approved an application for a grant of up to $17.5 million from the U.S. Economic Development Administration at its meeting Monday. 

Sally Payne, the city’s director of workforce development, explained the grant program to council and fielded about a dozen questions from Councilperson Angela Romine about specific language in the grant description. 

According to Payne, the grant will provide job training in health care, transportation logistics and child care, and the latter category includes an entrepreneurial component to encourage providers to start their own facilities.  

Romine paused during her questioning to praise Payne for her preparedness to answer myriad questions. 

“You’re answering a lot of questions – you’re prepared,” Romine said.  

Replied Payne, “I’m excited about this grant, and I think it’s incredible for our community.” 

It’s not a done deal; the Department of Workforce Development can apply for up to $25 million, but has opted to try for $17.5 million, or about $3.5 million per year. The grant does not require a match. 

In response to a question from Romine about the need to consider a career trajectory, Payne said that this is always a component of job training grants, and that is why employer partnerships are so key. 

“We really need to be mindful of the most in-demand paths,” Payne said. 

The city has several advantages with its application, according to Payne. One is its partnerships, which are already forged following a recent successful application for a $3 million Department of Labor workforce reentry grant.

“Employer partnerships are key, and they will be imperative to the success of your application,” Payne said. “We had probably close to 75 employer partnership letters, which is incredible.” 

The partnerships speak well of Springfield, according to Payne. 

“I know we hear it all the time that this is a very collaborative community, but the truth is, it really is, and we already have employers reaching out to us, ready to go to work,” she said. 

Another advantage of the city’s Department of Workforce Development is that it is prepared to use the funds immediately if the grant is awarded. 

“Other applicants can take a year to plan; they can take another year to implement,” she said. “Fortunately for us, we’re ready to go, so we won’t need that planning phase. We can skip that and just go right to implementation.” 

Councilperson Andrew Lear expressed his enthusiasm for the opportunity, as well as his appreciation for Payne’s diligence. 

“I think that we owe it as a duty to our local taxpayers to apply for available dollars when they come about,” he said. “These are federal dollars available; they’re going to be awarded somewhere in the country, and we certainly have a need for workforce training.”