Grundy Livingston Kankakee Workforce Board Secures $500,000 Illinois Talent Pipeline Grant for CSL Behring

KANKAKEE, IL – August 5, 2016 – The Grundy Livingston Kankakee Workforce Board has sought and received a $500,000 Illinois Talent Pipeline Grant to provide on-the-job training for local dislocated workers in the process of securing new positions at CSL Behring Kankakee. The funds are provided by the Illinois Department of Commerce and funded under the federal Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act.

The grant funds provide up to 50 percent salary reimbursement during initial CSL employee training for those individuals who have been laid off from Bunge, Peddinghaus, Space Center, Kmart or other local industries. The funding will help individuals who have been laid off receive the skills necessary for successful employment in the high-demand pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. 

The funding is an outcome of the Workforce Board’s regular meetings with the multinational bioscience leader to discuss the company’s workforce needs based on its ongoing $249 million plant expansion project. The expansion of CSL Behring Kankakee, which currently employs 1,100, is expected to create 150 new jobs by 2017.

“I am thrilled that the Workforce Board has been able to provide substantial funding to help laid off individuals find employment as well as help Kankakee County’s leading industry find qualified workers,” notes Workforce Board Executive Director Ladonna Russell.

“We are pleased to be able to partner with the Grundy Livingston Kankakee Workforce Board,” adds CSL Behring Kankakee Director of Human Resources Jackie Hawkins. “CSL Behring is excited to be able to tap into the talent in this community as we build our workforce to deliver on our promise to patients and stakeholders we serve around the world.”

The Grundy Livingston Kankakee Workforce Board oversees and sets policy for workforce development and training programs for Grundy, Livingston and Kankakee counties. It is one of 22 such local boards across the State of Illinois. Created in 1998 by the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), the Workforce Board is comprised of a variety of private- and public-sector members representing industries from across the three-county area, as well as public-sector and social service agencies involved in workforce development.
 
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