More than 60 employers came out June 16 for a job fair at Fresno City Hall geared toward former Bitwise employees. Photo by Ben Hensley

Nearly 150 former Bitwise employees in Fresno County can put some more firepower behind their job search with a $2.3 million state grant meant to help them get back on their feet.

Called the “Beyond Bitwise” grant, the money will go toward training programs and assistance with necessities including food, childcare and transportation.

The grant was announced Tuesday by a group including Fresno County Workforce Investment Board Director Blake Konczal, State Center Community College District Chancellor Carole Goldsmith, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer and Assemblymember Jim Patterson.

With the grant provided by the state Employment Development Department, the Workforce Investment Board has established a “Bitwise redeployment center” that will serve former employees, some of whom have been unemployed since the tech company collapsed on Memorial Day. Konczal said former Bitwise workers will have a single point of contact to interface with on the various programs this grant will fund.

That person should be named later this week, he added.

Bonczal said that some former Bitwise employees prefer to work or start businesses from home, so the grant will also help fund connectivity and equipment needs.

Dyer said many former Bitwise employees have already been employed by local businesses and organizations. For instance, Dyer announced that he hired former Bitwise Vice President Jordan Sanchez as his deputy chief of staff last week.

“We were going to turn something very, very evil into something very, very good,” Dyer said about the aim of the program.

Assemblymember Patterson played a part in securing the funding, as did California Labor & Workforce Development Secretary Stewart Knox. Of the $2.3 million, Patterson said $1.1 million will go to State Center Community College District to help dozens of former Bitwise apprenticeship program participants get the training they missed out on.

In offering his sympathies directly to displaced Bitwise workers, Patterson also had some words for Bitwise leadership.

“In some ways, I was kind of taken in by the glitz and the glamour of the Bitwise tap dance,” Paterson said. “In many instances so were you. You had these dreams, you saw a possibility here and what happened? You ended up being window dressing for a high-tech Ponzi scheme.”

“Shame on them,” he added.