FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Senator Amanda Shelton offered a successful amendment to the budget bill to increase appropriations to the Guam Community College by $980,000. This will go directly to the Guam Community College Apprenticeship Program to train and prepare our local workforce.
“In these uncertain times, we continue creating opportunities for our people while responding to the needs of a modern work force through education and training,” said Senator Shelton. “I thank the Guam Community college for leading with student-centered programs to develop our local manpower. These funds will continue building the future of our island through a more skilled work force.”
This represents a 40% increase to the GCC Apprenticeship Program. The College has created numerous, highly popular boot camps and training programs in partnership with the Department of Labor and local businesses to fill the needs in Guam’s workforce. Most recently, GCC has launched the first-ever paramedic training on Guam with over 36 participants scheduled to be completed in May 2021. GCC will work to duplicate these programs for other industries requiring skilled workers on island.
The funds from this increase to GCC will come the Manpower Development Fund (MDF) which was created to fund local training programs on Guam by assessing registration fees on temporary alien labor and fines levied for violation of labor laws. In earlier budget discussions, Senator Shelton and Senator Régine Biscoe Lee authored the amendment to increase the Manpower Development Fund by $1,400,000 based on data provided by the Department of Labor and BBMR. The increase in MDF revenues will come from the expected increase in foreign laborers Guam will see with the rise in military projects and other construction developments.
###
For more information contact our office at
officeofsenatorshelton@guamlegislature.org or at 969-2574/989-2572