Washington, D.C.– JobPath, Inc. of Tucson has received $200,000 from the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration to provide job training and other support to 50 underserved adults in Pima County. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who requested the funding in fiscal year 2010, hailed the award as an important step toward training Arizonans for competitive jobs.

JobPath was created in 1998 to meet an urgent community need for job training programs in Southern Arizona. JobPath provides training, financial assistance, case management, counseling and job placement services to qualified job seekers across Pima County. JobPath program completion rates average 90 percent, and graduates’ average wage increase is $29,200 from pre-graduation levels.

“This is a great opportunity for Tucsonans to get ahead in the competitive work force,” Grijalva said. “There are plenty of high-paying jobs in Tucson, but we won’t benefit unless our local workforce has the education and training it needs. That’s why this grant is important not just to JobPath but to the whole community, and that’s why I’m glad to see this funding come to Tucson.”