BI-CAP Awarded $1.1 Million Dollar Grant To Empower Young Workers and Strengthen The Workforce

The Department of Labor has awarded a $1.1 million dollar grant to “Bi-County Community Action Programs” also known as BI-CAP in Bemidji to empower young workers and strengthen the workforce in the region.

Democratic US Senator Tina Smith announced the grant today and says this federal funding will boost BI-CAP’s ability to support young people, workers and drive economic growth across Beltrami and Cass counties.

BI-CAP was established in 1966 as part of the national war on poverty and is one of approximately one-thousand community action programs nationwide that make up the service delivery arm of the Federal Office of Community Services.

They serve Beltrami and Cass counties with the following programs..

• Early Childhood Education….
• Housing
• Weatherization
• Energy Assistance
• Youth Education/Employment Services.

The grant will support the education and training of young people, ages 16-to-24, who are neither enrolled in school nor in the labor market, for jobs in construction and other high-demand industries.