Governor JB Pritzker along with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity announced over $15 million in funding for 33 organizations in Illinois for the Job Training and Economic Development Program or JTED.  The JTED provides workforce training and wrap-around services to help bolster equitable workforce recovery for Illinoisans struggling to get a job. JTED grants focus on helping increase employment among workers and industries that were hit hard by COVID. 

In the Regional Radio listening area, Litchfield School District was awarded $562,500.  JTED funding will continue to focus on hard hit sectors which have been seeing a labor shortage since 2020. The hope is to boost access to education, training and support services needed for vulnerable residents to reenter the labor force successfully. 

Through the first round of the JTED Program, Illinois has invested $20 million in 44 communities that currently serve 2,466 unemployed, underemployed, or underrepresented Illinoisans with a special training focus on industries hit hard by the pandemic.