May 17, 2019
Funding push to get Kawerau working
The Provincial Growth Fund is putting another $2 million into Kawerau to prepare people for the jobs being generated by economic growth in the Bay of Plenty.
The funding will go towards three skills and education programmes:
Kawerau Pathways to Work, delivered by Industrial Symbiosis Kawerau and Tūwharetoa ki Kawerau Health, Education and Social Services, will get almost $1 million in combined funding from the fund’s He Poutama Rangatahi and Te Ara Mahi streams;
Toi EDA’s Eastern Bay of Plenty Driver and Operator Training Centre will get almost $600,000;
And Social Good Limited’s School of Hard Knocks will get $700,000.
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says the initiatives mainly target young people not in employment, education and training, and who are most at risk of long-term unemployment – which in the Bay of Plenty is almost one in five young people aged between 16 and 24.
The first two initiatives build on the PGF’s existing $2m investment in the Kawerau-Pūtauaki Industrial Hub, which underpins a number of promising commercial investments in Kawerau which are expected to bring around 500 jobs to the regions in the next five years.
Employment Minster Willie Jackson says School of Hard Knocks uses sports to address barriers to employment and education and helps young people take positive steps in their lives.
It has a 68 per cent success rate in getting young people into work.
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