US: Apprenticeship Building America (ABA) Grant Program

Deadline: 25-Apr-22

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting applications for the Apprenticeship Building America (ABA) grant program to support a coordinated, national investment strategy that aims to strengthen and modernize the Registered Appprenticeship Program (RAP) system, centered on equity and promotes Registered Apprenticeship as a workforce development solution.

Categories

Applicants have the opportunity to apply for funding across four grant categories:

• Category 1 – State Apprenticeship System Building and Modernization: Grantees will coordinate RAP expansion and system building efforts at a state level across a wide array of industry sectors with employers, labor organizations, educational institutions, industry groups, joint labor-management partnerships, workforce and apprenticeship intermediaries, communitybased organizations, and other non-profit and public sector partners.
• Category 2 – Expansion of RAP Opportunities for Youth: Grantees will establish and expand partnerships that commit to expanding RAPs and/or pre-apprenticeship programs that lead to RAP enrollment for youth through coordination with industry, workforce intermediaries, labor organizations, K-12 districts, community colleges, youth-serving and community-based organizations, and other stakeholders.
• Category 3 – Ensuring Equitable RAP Pathways Through Pre-Apprenticeship Leading to RAP Enrollment and Equity Partnerships: Grantees will establish and develop equitycentered public-private partnerships with pre-apprenticeships leading to RAP enrollment that aim to increase diversity and equity in apprenticeship for underrepresented populations and underserved communities.
• Category 4 – Registered Apprenticeship Hubs: Grantees will establish a Registered Apprenticeship Hub by forming a multi-partner network capable of serving as a RAP sponsor or intermediary with the primary focus of supporting industry’s needs for creating and expanding RAPs in new and emerging sectors and occupations.

The ABA grant program builds on the Department’s previous and ongoing efforts to expand and modernize Registered Apprenticeship through expanding the number of programs and apprentices, diversifying the industries that utilize Registered Apprenticeship, and increasing access to and completion of RAPs for underrepresented populations and underserved communities.

Funding Information

• Estimated Total Program Funding: $113,000,000
• Award Ceiling: $8,000,000
• Award Floor: $1,000,000

Eligibility Criteria

• State Apprenticeship System Building and Modernization:
  • States are eligible to apply for grants in Category 1. The term “state” means any of the 50 states of the United States, District of Columbia, or any Territory or possession of the United States. For the purposes of this FOA, territories or possessions of the United States are defined as: Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. Only state agencies may submit an application for this category, and only one application may be submitted by a state in response to this category.
  • States must identify the state agency that will be the grant recipient. This entity must have the capacity to administer the grant, will have sole responsibility for administering the project, and will serve as the grant’s fiscal agent.
• Expansion of RAP Opportunities for Youth:
  • Cities;
  • Municipalities;
  • Tribal Nations;
  • Workforce Development System Entities, Agencies, and Associations – Organizations involved in administering the workforce development system established under WIOA which are limited to State Workforce Development Boards, Local
  • Workforce Development Boards, and Indian and Native American entities;
  • Community-based Organizations – Organizations that are representative of a community or significant segments of a community and which provide education, career technical education or rehabilitation, job training, or internship services and programs and includes neighborhood groups and organizations, community action agencies, community development corporations, union related organizations, and employer-related organizations;
  • Industry groups and associations;
  • Labor and Joint labor-management partnerships;
  • Workforce and apprenticeship intermediaries;
  • Educational institutions (e.g., alternative, private or traditional high schools; community colleges; CTE; HSIs; MSIs; HBCUs; school districts);
  • Consortia: A consortium of organizations that is led by an eligible entity whose principal function(s) is consistent with the capabilities associated with either one or more of the organizations.
• Ensuring Equitable RAP Pathways Through Pre-apprenticeship Leading to RAP Enrollment and Equity Partnerships:
  • Cities; 
  • Municipalities; 
  • Workforce Development System Entities – Organizations involved in administering the workforce development system established under WIOA, which are limited to State Workforce Development Boards, Local Workforce Development Boards, and Indian and Native American entities;
  • Educational institutions (e.g., community colleges, HBCUs, institutions of higher education, MSIs, school districts);
  • Industry groups and associations;
  • Labor and Joint labor-management partnerships; 
  • Workforce and apprenticeship intermediaries;
  • Organizations functioning as business-related entities/workforce intermediaries for the expressed purpose of serving the needs of businesses, individual businesses, or consortia of businesses;
  • Community-based organizations – Organizations that are representative of a community or significant segments of a community and which provides education, career technical education or rehabilitation, job training, or internship services and programs and includes neighborhood groups and organizations, community action agencies, community development corporations, union-related organizations, and employer-related organizations;
  • Consortia: A consortium of organizations that is led by an eligible entity whose principal function(s) is consistent with the capabilities associated with either one or more of the organizations.
• Registered Apprenticeship Hubs:
  • Cities;
  • Workforce Development System Entities – Organizations involved in administering the workforce development system established under WIOA, which are limited to State Workforce Development Boards, Local Workforce Development Boards, and Indian and Native American entities;
  • Educational institutions (e.g., community colleges, institutions of higher education, HBCUs, HSIs, MSIs, school districts);
  • Industry groups and associations;
  • Labor and Joint labor-management partnerships; 
  • Workforce and apprenticeship intermediaries: Organizations functioning as businessrelated entities/workforce intermediaries for the express purpose of serving the needs of businesses, individual businesses, or consortia of businesses;
  • Community-based organizations: Organizations that are representative of a community or significant segments of a community and which provides education, career technical education or rehabilitation, job training, or internship services and programs and includes neighborhood groups and organizations, community action agencies, community development corporations, union-related organizations, and employer-related organizations; and
  • Consortia: A consortium of organizations that is led by an eligible entity whose principal function(s) is consistent with the capabilities associated with either one or more of the organizations.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.

For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=336694