Attendees of a news conference pose for a photo Wednesday behind Assemblymember Arambula, who secured $3 million for the Workforce Investment Board. Photo by Frank Lopez

A local employment and education training agency has been awarded millions in state funding.

Assemblymember Dr. Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno) presented a $3 million check to the Fresno Regional Workforce Development Board Wednesday at the new Workforce Connection headquarters on Shaw and Marks avenues.

The state allocation will enable the Fresno Regional Workforce Development Board to support its ValleyBuild construction program, and its new ValleyBuild NOW (Non-traditional Occupations for Women) pre-apprenticeship training program for women, which recently completed its first cohort.

ValleyBuild has had 36 cohorts complete its training program since its inception 15 year ago.

Arambula secured the funds for the ValleyBuild program, which operates in 14 Central Valley counties, and will help expand opportunities for paid work experience for Multi-Craft Core Curriculum (MC3) for participants in the process of completing required testing, being accepted into building trades apprenticeships and then being hired by a construction contractor.

The funds will also be used to provide needs-based stipends, start a second ValleyBuild NOW cohort for women in 2023 and coordinate a mentoring program for women apprentices in construction.

“There are too many women out there who are unable to attend without receiving a stipend,” Arambula said. “The funds that we are administering today will go a long way to make sure that those that are facing those barriers will be able to overcome them.”

Arambula said this will provide more career opportunities for communities of color and women.

Blake Konczal, executive director of the Fresno Regional Workforce Development Board, said the funds will make training a more viable option for economically disadvantaged and underrepresented residents of the Central Valley.

“If we are really to make these opportunities available to our poorest clients, our people don’t have the wherewithal to just take four, six or eight weeks off work. We had to come up with a model where those clients would receive a stipend while in training — and have paid work experience at the end of training so they could focus on just training, and do the best they could,” Konczal said.

Workforce Development Board Project Coordinator Ashley Matthews said the team came up with the concept for ValleyBuild NOW about a year ago, and she is proud to see it grow and gain support for women in trade industries.

“Women in the trades is not a new issue, that is something that we’ve always strived to accomplish,” Matthews said. “This is the culmination of having the right people in the right place at the right time.”