Delaware will receive $889,404 in American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds for green jobs training, the U.S. Department of Labor has announced Thursday, Nov. 19.

This is one of the first green jobs grant awards authorized by the Recovery Act.

Thanks to the federal Recovery Act, this grant will enhance Delaware’s strategic position in keeping and creating green jobs, according to Senators Tom Carper and Ted Kaufman (both D-Del.). The better prepared and skilled is Delaware’s green workforce, the more attractive the state will be to companies that are thinking about relocating to the Diamond State.

The Delaware Department of Labor received the highly competitive grant for its Delaware Green Jobs Initiative. The initiative is designed to facilitate the development of a strategic plan for encouraging the expansion and implementation of green jobs in the state.

The grant will enable the University of Delaware and Delaware Economic Development Office to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the green jobs that come to the state, said Delaware Labor Secretary John McMahon Jr. Then, the state can expand its efforts to create additional jobs in the green economy and stimulate job growth.

The project will provide real-time data on crucial information such as the number and types of current green jobs, current vacancies and growth potential in green jobs, the necessary skills and training required for these jobs and potential wages in the green job sector. Additionally, this project will work to enhance the labor exchange infrastructure through the publication of green job openings on Delaware’s JobLink system.