04.15.10

Cantwell Announces $3 Million Grant to Walla Walla Community College

Funds will be used to expand green jobs training center

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) announced an Economic Development Administration grant for $3,000,000 going to Walla Walla Community College for an expanded green jobs training center. Walla Walla Community College will use the federal funding to expand the William A. Grant Water and Environmental Center, created in 2007 to train workers in skills needed to restore watersheds, recover fish runs and better manage limited water resources. Senator Cantwell wrote a letter of support for the Center’s expansion to the Economic Development Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce last May.
 
“This well deserved grant will translate into new job opportunities in the expanding green jobs sector,” Senator Cantwell said. “With this funding, Walla Walla Community College can expand its training facility to prepare more individuals for careers in green job sectors, particularly watershed and environmental management. This training center will help keep Washington state on the cutting edge of 21st century resource challenges like water scarcity.”
 
Walla Walla Community College is working with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation to expand its Center and provide enhanced skills in environmental career fields. The project is projected to create 360 jobs and leverage $28 million in private investment.
 
“This funding is so important because it will allow us to expand our Center’s facilities that are critical to providing the enhanced training necessary to prepare individuals to pursue careers in green job sectors,” said Dr. Steven L. VanAusdle, President of Walla Walla Community College. “Jobs will be created and more water will be available for sustaining salmon while meeting the agricultural and other economic, cultural, and domestic use requirements of our region. We are appreciative of the support we received from the Washington congressional delegation throughout this process."
 
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