The Virginia Community College System has won a $1.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to help workers who have lost their jobs start their own businesses.

Kathy Thompson, executive policy analyst with VCCS, said the grant will be used to provide skills training at Northern Virginia Community College to help displaced workers ages 50 and older.

The three-year project will help about 250 workers, she said. The goal over that time is to create 50 businesses with a projected economic impact of between $1.4 million and $2 million.

Workers will receive classroom and technical training and counseling, as well as low-interest loans so "they can start and sustain successful self-employment."

The grant will support the Northern Virginia Growing America Through Entrepreneurship Project. It will be directed by SkillSource Group Inc. in collaboration with multiple agencies, including VCCS, George Mason University and BB&T.

The award was part of $17 million in grants announced this week by the Labor Department's Employment and Training Administration after a competition for proposals to assist dislocated workers.

VCCS was the only community college system to receive a grant. The other funding will be distributed to agencies in nine other states.

The grants are to be used for demonstration projects that build skills and employment options of workers who are already out of work or are at risk of becoming dislocated.

A total of 32 proposals were submitted in four categories. VCCS won $1,970,291 for its proposal for the "Entrepreneurship for Dislocated Workers" category.

Other grants in that category went to the North Carolina Department of Commerce, $1.6 million; the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, $1 million; and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, $2 million.
Contact Karin Kapsidelis at (804) 649-6119 or kkapsidelis@timesdispatch.com.