Federal Grants Awarded to Oregon Community College and Small Businesses

Rogue Community College and small businesses throughout Oregon will receive hundreds of thousands in funding, according to recent announcements from two federal agencies.

Rogue received a $3 million Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grant from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to develop new health care training programs under the Pathways to Allied Health Professions project. Money will go toward training health care support occupations, including certified nursing assistants, clinical lab assistants, and physical therapy assistants. Rogue Community College expects the grant will fund around 460 students over the next three years. Get more details on the grant from the DOL press release, and find more information on Rogue's health care training program from their press release.

In other news, the U.S. Small Business Administration awarded nearly half a million in State Trade and Export Promotion (or STEP) funding to Oregon, which will be administered through Business Oregon. The funds will be awarded to small businesses through $5,000 export development grants used to offset the costs of international trade shows and other similar events. Over 80 companies received STEP grants in 2011, the first year these grants were distributed in the state. Learn more in the full Portland Business Journal article.