$800,000 for job training; 11 manufacturers receive grants.

• Author: Eckelbecker, Lisa
• Position: Business

Byline: Lisa Eckelbecker

Central Massachusetts employers were awarded more than $800,000 on Wednesday to help train workers, including nearly $450,000 for 11 manufacturers in the Southbridge area.

The grants were among $5.4 million in awards handed out statewide Wednesday by the Workforce Training Fund, a pool of money generated by contributions from the state's employers.

Among the recipients was the Central Massachusetts Workforce Investment Board, which received two grants worth a total of $439,111 to organize training classes for 11 manufacturers over the next two years. The Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership, an organization that provides assistance to manufacturers, will conduct the training, said Jeffrey Turgeon, executive director of the Worcester-based Workforce Investment Board.

"It's an opportunity for us to bring world-class training offerings through MassMEP to the small- and medium-size manufacturers in the Southbridge area that have those overlapping training needs,'' Mr. Turgeon said.

The Workforce Investment Board offered training under a previous grant to five Southbridge-area manufacturers.

The new round of training, which will focus on technical manufacturing subjects as well as management and leadership, begins this week and aims...