The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)—in collaboration with its Partnership Intermediary, ENERGYWERX —has opened applications to establish new industrial training and assessment centers, as part of the Industrial Assessment Centers (IAC) network, across the United States to train students and incumbent workers for high-quality careers in clean energy, energy efficiency, and advanced manufacturing, and to help small and midsized manufacturers (SMMs) save money, reduce energy waste, and improve productivity.
Through this solicitation, DOE aims to support community and technical colleges; trade schools; union training programs (including labor-management training programs); apprenticeship readiness, apprenticeship, and internship programs; and their employer and workforce system partners through planning awards of up to $200,000, execution awards of up to $2,000,000, and cohort awards of up to $7,000,000. This solicitation builds on the round of selections announced in November 2023 – applicants may wish to review those selections to understand the types of projects that DOE expects to fund in this solicitation.
This solicitation makes available up to $24,000,000 of funds from section 40521 of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), 42 USC § 17116.
TRACK ONE
IAC Planning and Capacity-Building ($100,000-200,000 each, 12 months): Smaller planning awards for workforce development programs looking to expand their industrial sector training, test options to serve SMMs through hands-on training, and prepare for a possible Track 2 (Execution and Scale) award in 1-2 years.