Cleveland, OH – As a leading provider of educational programs and support to the manufacturing industry, Lincoln Electric is committed to furthering workforce development and training at all levels.

On Tuesday, Sept. 21, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET, Sarah Evans, Lincoln Electric’s Education Sales and Marketing Manager, and longtime Lincoln Electric partner Robert Visdos, President of Workforce Institute, Inc., will host a free, in-depth webinar that will walk secondary and post-secondary educational leaders and other interested participants through the federal funding grants available to build new or expand existing welding training programs through the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA)’s initiatives under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021.

The webinar is aimed at community college and university presidents, deans, directors, K-12 superintendents and resource development, special project and workforce development administrators from learning institutions, non-profit organization, and others who work to find funding opportunities. Attendees must pre-register for the free webinar prior to 1 p.m. on Sept. 21.

ARPA provides $1.9 trillion in funding opportunities for investing in distressed and underserved communities impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, including $3 billion in grants from the EDA. The investment will support “bottom-up, middle-out economic development focused on advancing equity, creating good-paying jobs, helping workers develop in-demand skills, building economic resilience and accelerating economic recovery.” Education and training will play a major role in this collaborative effort.

“Our goal is to engage with college and K-12 administrators about these EDA grant opportunities and make them aware of what it takes to connect with the right partners and enjoy a portion of this available funding,” Visdos explains. “They are a frontline resource for skills development and training, and this webinar is designed to help them better understand the available funds and how to apply for them. It’s a can’t miss event for administrators at career-tech and higher-ed institutions looking to make a difference in building the skilled trades employment base.”

Lincoln Electric’s Sept. 21 webinar will examine how U.S. educators can get their non-profit institutions involved in any or all four of these EDA “Investing in America’s Communities” grant programs to upgrade and expanding existing welding training facilities and equipment, build new ones and obtain new or updated curriculum:

• Build Back Better Regional Challenge
  This $1 billion program invites regional coalitions to apply for funding to implement between three and eight projects aligned with a cohesive regional development strategy that focuses on developing new and expanding existing industries, workforce training and more. Funding will range between $25 million and $75 million but could go up to $100 million.
  
  
• Good Jobs Challenge
  With $500 million in grant allocations from the EDA, this program aims to get Americans back work by funding collaborative skills training systems and programs, particularly those targeted toward underserved populations and areas, communities of color, women and other groups facing market labor barriers ranging from disabilities to criminal records and more.
  
  
• Economic Adjustment Assistance Challenge
  The EDA is allocating $500 million to this flexible grant program designed to support hundreds of communities across the country in planning, building and innovating local projects aimed at putting people back to work. Of these funds, $200 million has been set aside for coal communities.
  
  
• Indigenous Communities Challenge
  Grant funds of $100 million will be available to provide funding specifically for indigenous communities to develop and execute economic development projects to assist with pandemic recovery now and into the future. A wide range of technical, planning, workforce development, entrepreneurship and public works and infrastructure programs are eligible for grants under this program.

Post-webinar, attendees will receive a link to the recorded webinar and two handy guides from Lincoln Electric: one examining how to build a weld school and another that provides insight into grant writing for advanced training and equipment needs.

To pre-register for the webinar, visit: http://www.directeventreg.com/registration/event/1579320

About Lincoln Electric
Lincoln Electric is the world leader in the design, development and manufacture of arc welding products, automated joining, assembly and cutting systems, plasma and oxy-fuel cutting equipment and has a leading global position in brazing and soldering alloys. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Lincoln has 55 manufacturing locations in 18 countries and a worldwide network of distributors and sales offices covering more than 160 countries. For more information about Lincoln Electric and its products and services, visit the Company’s website at https://www.lincolnelectric.com.

About Workforce Institute, Inc.

Robert Visdos is the Founder and President of the Workforce Institute, Inc. (WII) in Portland, Oregon.  WII provides strategic planning, resource development, grant-writing, program evaluation, employer engagement and professional development services to community colleges, universities, non-profit organizations and government agencies throughout the United States. Visdos has over 40 years of experience in the workforce and economic development fields as a community college administrator, president/CEO of a national workforce association, and as the president of WorkSystems Inc. (the Oregon Region #2 WIB).  Throughout his career, he has been involved in the design and development of programs and services for his customers to address and meet the needs of their business and industry customers.  Visdos has successfully authored or co-authored $450+ million in successful grant applications from federal sources such as the U.S. Departments of Labor, HHS, Education, NSF/ATE, Justice and the Economic Development Administration, as well as state agencies and foundations over the past 40 years.  

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