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Nixon promotes federal aid for retraining unemployed in health care field

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Sept. 29, 2011 - Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is traveling the state this week to highlight training for 4,600 new jobs that will be available for Missourians in health care fields via $20 million in federal money awarded under the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grant Program.

Nixon's stops today included St. Louis Community College's William J. Harrison Education Center, 3140 Cass Avenue.

St. Louis Community College will receive $3.7 million to retrain 1,100 unemployed people under the program, dubbed MoHealthWINs.

Nixon's staff says that 12 community colleges in Missouri, plus Linn State Technical College, applied for the money in a collaboration with the Missouri Department of Economic Development and the state's Workforce Investment Boards.

"My administration remains committed to fight every single day, for every single job. Missouri's community colleges have been a strong partner in the effort to train more Missourians for the jobs and careers of tomorrow," Nixon said in his remarks at each stop.

"Missouri's health care industry needs more workers at our hospitals and clinics. To ensure that unemployed Missourians have the right training and education to fill these jobs and succeed in these new careers, we're focusing on specific, in-demand skills."

According to the governor's office, "individual colleges will use these funds to develop or expand training programs in the health services and health sciences industry, which is a targeted industry under the Missouri Strategic Initiative for Economic Growth."

St. Louis Community College plans to launch two new retraining programs in the health care field. According to the governor's announcement, they are:

-- "A new therapeutic services program will train workers as Certified Nursing Assistants, and put them on the path to earn their associate degree in nursing;''

-- "An information technology program will train workers to enter and advance in positions in the high-demand field of health informatics."

At the Harrison Education Center, Nixon also toured some of the job-training facilities.