GRANTEE:                   Northern Arizona Council of Governments

ADDRESS:                  119 East Aspen Avenue

                             Flagstaff, AZ  86001-5222

AMOUNT:                    $2,978,306

DURATION:                January 5, 2004 - January 5, 2007 (36 months)

POPULATION SERVED:  The project will serve a total of 350 incumbent workers in the Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing fields.  All participants will be previously degreed engineers and scientists.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION:  Training programs will be designed around the needs of individual employers and participants.  Training will be provided in traditional classroom settings, on-site with partner employers, and through the internet.

Partner employers are providing $1,499,950 in cash matching funds while administrative partners will waive their indirect costs and provide other cash and services worth $565,795. Total match equals $2,065,745.

Grantee will pursue outcomes in participant wage increases and attainment of skill certifications. Certifications will be issued by local universities and Federal laboratories in the areas of semiconductor processing, environmental testing, lean manufacturing, rapid prototyping, ultra low power electronics, computational engineering, advanced robotics, microelectronics, materials research, electro-optic technology, and others.  Grantee has committed to reporting on the cost savings employers receive due to this training.

Grantee also expects to develop and distribute a series of “Success Stories” illustrating various approaches to cutting edge technology transfer projects related to the workforce development of engineers and scientists.

KEY PARTICIPANTS:  Northern Arizona Council of Governments, Apache County WIB, Coconino County WIB, Navajo County WIB, Yavapai County WIB, Universal Avionics, Paragon Space Development Corp., Cybernetic Research Laboratories, T.A. CAID Industries, Spectrum Printing, Sanmina-SCI Corp., University of Arizona, Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, Sandia National Laboratories, Arizona Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Technology Development and Research Institute.

MEDIA CONTACT:    Dr. Claudia Follet

                            (321) 449-1059