Reece Dower at The Capitol News Illinois/The Rockford (Illinois) Register Star reports that as the U.S. sheds manufacturing jobs, the State of Illinois is accepting applications for $24 million in grant funding to establish Training Facilities at Community Colleges aimed at bolstering its manufacturing labor pool. The funding is for six Manufacturing Training Academies at Downstate Community Colleges that will add to two existing academies that opened in 2024. The new grants will be awarded through a bidding process. The Training Academy Program is an offshoot of the bipartisan budget and public infrastructure framework that became law during Governor J.B. Pritzker’s first year in office in 2019. “(For) States that are going to win on economic development, a large part of that is making sure we have a skilled workforce,” Officials said.

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