Labor Secretary Announces Additional Funds for Ohio’s Unemployed

Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Topics: Economy
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U.S. Labor secretary Hilda Solis today announced nearly 18 million dollars in federal stimulus money to help Ohioans who have recently been laid off. The funding is in addition to the 88 million dollars for unemployment benefits and retraining announced in Perrysburg Tuesday. Ideastream's Bill Rice reports.

Secretary Solis was in Cleveland, along with car Czar Ed Montgomery, to announce the new funding - and talk up the Obama administration’s commitment to helping the Midwest in the wake of the sharp downsizing of the domestic auto industry.  Solis said a little more than ten percent of the 18 million is in anticipation of Chrysler jobs not yet eliminated, but that are on the chopping block. 

Solis:  “And we’re really talking about Twinsburg.  We wanted to respond rapidly to make sure we could help those employees who are there to start beginning to look at training opprtunities unemployment insurance, and also training dollars and health care coverage.”

Chrysler is slated to close its Twinsburg stamping plant, which employs about 700, by the end of 2010. 

The funding is in addition to the 88 million dollars for unemployment benefits and retraining announced in Perrysburg Tuesday. 

Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher praised federal officials whose goals for stimulus spending are in sync with the governor’s. 

Fisher:  The money that they are bringing to Ohio can used immediately to do two things:  one, provide income support, unemployment compensation so people survive.  But survival’s not enough.  The second piece is the training so that they can transition not just to a job, but to a career. 

Solis and Montgomery met with Fisher and other local officials to gather ideas on how the federal government can help foster a new economic direction through advanced manufacturing and green technology. 

Bill Rice, 90.3. 

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This feature is part of the series Help Wanted.