Howard College Awarded Grant for Industry Certification

SAN ANGELO, TX – Mr. Julian Alvarez, the Commissioner Representing Labor for the Texas Workforce Commission presented two grant awards Wednesday to Howard College in San Angelo at the West Texas Training Center.

Randy LeCompte, Deputy Executive Director for the Concho Valley Workforce Development Board introduced Commissioner Alvarez and opened the ceremony.

“We are now allowing young individuals out of high school an opportunity to see that you can be successful in the real world with an associates degree or an industry recognized certification,” said Alvarez. The staff at Howard College “make it possible for the training to take place and customize the training that is needed for the industry.”

Commissioner Alvarez signed the $100,000 check provided by the Texas Workforce Commission, and Guy Andrews, the Director of Economic Development for the City of San Angelo Development Corporation signed the $167,769 check.

“We are sharing the value of someone receiving an industry recognized certification. With our workforce, we can make is possible with those training dollars,” said Alvarez.

The current grants to Howard College are for TWS Matching grant for Construction Trades training. A future grant mentioned will be for women who have current non-violent felony charges on their record. They will be put through an IT program similar to Geek Squad at Best Buy.

“What makes this different from any other grant that we’ve done is the fact that from the day they get accepted into the program, we’re going to give these women another chance,” said Alvarez.