New grant will help 350 people in Denver advance in retail careers

Thanks to a new $422,652 grant, 350 people in Denver will have a chance to get better employment opportunities in the retail industry. The city will use the grant to focus on empowering disadvantaged adults and working-age youth through a variety of job training programs.

"The majority of program funds will go toward getting individuals gainfully employed," says Denver Office of Economic Development Spokesperson Derek Woodbury. "We are also targeting efforts to assist employed retail workers with moving up the career ladder." We do not have a targeted figure for these advancements.

Denver's Workforce Development Board will use the funding to create a retail sector partnership with employers and education providers to offer people a chance to advance their careers through training experiences. Training will include formal education, certification training, on-the-job training and paid work experiences. The grant will also promote advancement opportunities in the retail sector.

While the grant is a standalone grant, it's not all the city is doing to help encourage workforce development. "We do expect to leverage other federal workforce development funding streams in order to co-enroll participants in other workforce services training and employment programs," Woodbury explains.

The grant was awarded part of a larger, $10.9 million award to The Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership from the Walmart Foundation aimed at creating new models of career services in the retail sector. Of the 10 cities to which the partnership awarded grants, Denver won the most.

While the Walmart Foundation is funding the grant, Denver won't be providing any direct services to the company. "The grant agreement prohibits our office from providing workforce services to Walmart or any of its subsidiaries under this funding," Woodbury says.

Contact Confluence Denver Innovation & Jobs News Editor Chris Meehan with tips and leads for future stories at chris@confluence-denver.com.