PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 31, 2025
For more information, contact:
Emily Nicholson, Executive Director, Land of Sky P20 Council
[email protected] or 252.916.2678
The U.S. Department of Labor recently awarded $1,500,000 to Land of Sky Regional Council for a grant in the YouthBuild program, which will support training and employment services to prepare and equip young workers for quality jobs. The Land of Sky P20 Council, for which Land of Sky Regional Council serves as the fiscal agent, will administer the grant. The YouthBuild program follows a pre-apprenticeship model, providing underserved youth ages 16-24 with educational guidance, industry skills training, and support services such as transportation assistance, provision of work attire, healthcare referrals, and childcare. YouthBuild program participants will split their time between classroom instruction and workplace training, preparing them for gainful employment and successful careers.
Land of Sky Regional Council will execute the YouthBuild program CORE-2 (Construction Opportunities in Rural and Urban Environments) via two sub-awardee programs. Camp Grier’s WORX Project will provide a rural skills training site to build one modular housing unit to be used as a long-term, below-market rate rental. Hood Huggers will provide an urban site at the future Blue Note Junction where participants will work on a 32-unit affordable housing project. Both sub-awardees have linkages to accredited training providers for education, credentials required for Registered Apprenticeships (RAPs), industry-recognized certifications, and direct placement into employment. CORE-2 will simultaneously prepare young people to acquire the skills and training needed to successfully enter the workforce while providing affordable housing to community members in need.
The YouthBuild program grant is set to start on February 1, 2025, and will run for 36 months, including 24 months of active programming and a 12-month follow-up period. Melissa Zenz has been chosen to be the project director of this grant. Some of Ms. Zenz duties will the following:
- Oversee and participate in grant development and administration, budget development, procurement, and related fiscal monitoring and reporting; coordinates with agency fiscal staff as needed
- Ensure financial and programmatic compliance to all federal, state, and local area mandates by understanding current regulations from the Department of Labor and future regulations that DOL will produce
- Compile and generate reports concerning a variety of data, program information, and financial issues; submit reports electronically
- Coordinate with program staff at subgrantee sites for processing of client payments within specific schedules; review program invoicing from subgrantees through a reimbursement basis using careful analysis of expenses, assist the Land of Sky Finance Director in the payment of program invoices
- File a variety of records and reports; search records and reports for historical information
- Compile and record a variety of fiscal data to create and submit a variety of reports
- Exercise initiative, creativity, and independent judgment carefully in managing projects
- Be responsive to other duties that may be assigned by the Executive Director
- Reconcile expenditures and cash revenue for grants to specialized software and with each of multiple
sub-contractors monthly and perform year-end close-out for individual grants - Assess cash receipts and expenditures to ensure receipts are sufficient to meet cash needs; perform funds drawdown
- Monitor and conduct assessments and provide financial technical assistance to subgrantee staff on grant financial & programmatic requirements; perform grant requisitioning, accounting, and reporting
In addition, if you or someone you know may be interested in being a part of this program as a prospective participant, please scan the QR code below or click the following link to fill out the interest form so that you can be reached when the program launches: https://bit.ly/wncyouth
