Texarkana College Receives $250k Grant to Assist Local Businesses with Training and Retooling in Response to COVID-19

Texarkana College received a $250,000 grant from the Texas Workforce Commission’s Skills Development Fund (SDF) to fund specialized trainings for businesses or industries in the Texarkana community impacted by COVID-19.  Executive Director of Texarkana College’s Community and Business Education Center, Mendy Sharp, said the training opportunities provided by the grant will have a positive impact on the community and the development of employees in our area.

“We are extremely grateful to the Texas Workforce Commission for awarding Texarkana College with the COVID-19 Special Initiative grant,” said Sharp. “We are hopeful that these funds will aide businesses or industries in the Texarkana area to provide meaningful training and professional development to enhance their business operations or production.”

The SDF COVID-19 Special Initiative will provide training in response to the direct needs of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Training will target business partners retooling business processes to respond to the need of COVID-19 related necessities, as well as those businesses that are retooling to provide continuing employment to employees. Approximately $2,000 will be made available per qualifying participant.

The eligible industries for the grant include, but are not limited to, medical and healthcare, critical manufacturing, telecommunications, hospitality, information technology systems, defense, food and agriculture, transportation and logistics, energy, water and wastewater. A full list can be found here.

More information about the SDF COVID-19 Special Initiative Grant and to see if your business is eligible for training, please contact Mendy Sharp at mendy.sharp@texarkanacollege.edu or 903-823-3054.