(Washington, D.C.) - Montana's senior U.S. Senator Max Baucus applauded Flathead Valley Community College today for landing more than $3.6 million in grants to support worker training for good-paying jobs in Montana.  This funding is part of the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Community College and Career Training grant program, which Baucus helped pass in 2009. 

"Folks who have been laid off over the last few years deserve a shot at all the tools possible to land good-paying jobs and get back on their feet again.  These grants will also help make retraining affordable for Montanans, which is a win-win situation," said Baucus who has earned top national honors for his support of community colleges.  "Flathead Valley Community College is working hard to be part of the solution to our economic situation by better training students to land the jobs local employers need to fill."

"We greatly appreciate  Senator Baucus' efforts in making these funds available to all community colleges, but especially to help Montana students and employers," said FVCC President Jane Karas, Ph.D.  "We are grateful for Senator Baucus' recognition of the importance of community colleges paving the way for our nation's future."

The grants are designed to help create short-term training programs to prepare students for advanced manufacturing careers. It will also help establish a new entrepreneurship center on the Flathead Valley Community College campus to encourage the growth of new small manufacturers in Northwest Montana.

 Trade Adjustment Assistance and Montana:

• Baucus, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, with sole jurisdiction over international trade, worked hard to build a bi-partisan support for extending Trade Adjustment Assistance that expired at the beginning of 2011 to help laid off workers gain new training and education to get back into the workforce. For more information click HERE.
• Since Baucus updated TAA in 2009, 785 workers at 36 companies in Montana have been approved to receive TAA benefits. These companies include: Plum Creek, Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation, Montana Rail Link, Montana Tunnels Mining, Inc., and A.W. Pratt, Inc.  In fiscal year 2012, $6,009,881 in TAA funds have been provided to help Montana workers.  The new Wood Products Center in Eureka is one example of how TAA resources are helping Montanans.