Gov. Evers, DWD Announce Nearly $900,000 in Fast Forward Training Grants to Train Over 340 Workers in Healthcare, Customer Service, Technology, and Manufacturing
Customer Service; Healthcare; Information Technology; Manufacturing
MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers, together with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD), today announced over $890,000 in worker training grant awards through the Wisconsin Fast Forward Program to assist nine organizations in training more than 340 workers in healthcare, customer service, technology, and manufacturing to help fill critical workforce needs.
“Making sure Wisconsin is prepared to create jobs for the future must be a top priority, and whether it’s healthcare, manufacturing, or technology, we’re working to ensure we can fill in-demand jobs while giving folks the opportunity to increase their earnings and build on their skills,” said Gov. Evers. “These grants are a win-win-win for our workforce, economy, and communities, and I am proud of our work to secure these funds and build on our efforts to uplift Wisconsin’s workforce for years to come.”
These grant announcements came as last year, Gov. Evers secured an additional $500,000 for Fast Forward healthcare industry grants in the bipartisan 2025-27 Biennial Budget to address Wisconsin’s healthcare worker shortage. Additional funds were also made available through the Wisconsin Fast Forward standard grant program to specifically bolster the healthcare and health sciences sectors.
Administered by DWD, the Wisconsin Fast Forward Program works to help Wisconsin businesses train and retain highly skilled workers and support the state’s workforce. The grants will reimburse the costs of customized occupational training for unemployed, underemployed, and current workers. Grants ranging from $5,000 to $400,000—or higher for consortium applicants—can cover training that qualifies workers for full-time positions, higher-level roles, or increased wages.
DWD’s Office of Skills Development awarded more than $5.2 million in Fast Forward grants to train an estimated 2,847 people in state fiscal year 2026. Since the program launched in 2013, more than $58 million in funding has been awarded to 516 projects to support the training of over 31,000 workers.
“The Wisconsin Fast Forward grant program continues to invest in our state’s workforce by supporting employers seeking to attract, train, and retain highly skilled people,” said DWD Secretary Amy Pechacek. “Through this successful, strategic investment in training to fill positions, our economy gets a boost by bolstering our workforce and offering workers the skills they need to succeed.”
Employers must meet all these minimum requirements to receive funding:
- 85 percent of the participants must complete training;
- 65 percent must gain employment, whether by hiring unemployed individuals or improving employment for underemployed workers; and
- 75 percent of incumbent trainees must receive pay raises.
The over $890,000 in Wisconsin Fast Forward grant awards will go to nine organizations across four workforce skills, including:
City of Milwaukee Department of Emergency Communications, Milwaukee County | $84,200
Milwaukee’s Department of Emergency Communications will partner with Medical Priority to train 36 unemployed and 88 current workers to take and dispatch 911 calls. This training will provide a nationally recognized Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) certification and address staffing shortages.
Appleton 955 LLC, Outagamie County | $36,000
Partnering with An Embrace of Learning, Appleton 955 LLC will train 12 current workers employed as nursing assistants at six locations. Training will provide structured skills in behavioral intervention, staged escalation recognition, trauma-informed communication, and post-incident documentation.
Life Point Counseling LLC, Sheboygan County | $193,635
Life Point Counseling LLC will train 12 unemployed or underemployed trainees and 20 incumbent workers through four pipelines: pre-graduate interns, pre-licensure clinicians, licensed clinicians seeking advanced certifications, and clinical supervisors. The training will support job placement and increased wages, and expand services while reducing wait times and increasing local care.
Opportunity Inc., Marathon County | $17,655
Opportunity Inc. will recruit and train eight unemployed trainees to become professional guardians for people with disabilities, expanding the workforce, creating sustainable employment opportunities, and providing trainees with transferable skills. Instruction will focus on guardianship responsibilities, ethics, decision-making, legal requirements, and person-centered planning.
Trade Tech Inc., Washington County | $168,357
Trade Tech Inc. will partner with Pinnacle Business Solutions to train 72 current employees in information security requirements. Training will provide employees with skills in the required physical and electronic protection of government-controlled information, facilitating higher volumes of work and employment opportunities.
ATACO Steel Products Corp., Ozaukee County | $12,403
ATACO Steel Products Corp. will train two incumbent workers to integrate advanced automated manufacturing and oversee certified welding processes. This upskilling will provide critical in-house expertise to support OEM customer requirements and result in measurable skills and industry-recognized credentials.
Gehl Food LLC, Washington County | $281,534
Gehl Food LLC will train 75 unemployed workers in skills to increase operational capabilities, including employee safety, food safety training, and machine startup and shutdown. Training will lead to equipment certifications and credentials with increased trainee marketability, earning potential, and readiness for advancement.
Mayday Gearbox Repair, Washington County | $64,315
Mayday Gearbox Repair will train four current workers and one unemployed trainee as gearbox repair technicians. Training will include power transmission, disassembly/failure analysis, precision measurement, reassembly, and advanced diagnostics.
Robbins Sports Surfaces LLC, Langlade County | $32,500
Robbins Sports Surfaces LLC will train six unemployed or underemployed workers and 12 incumbent workers in preventive maintenance, line flow, and production. Trainees will work at the company’s new rough mill in White Lake, adding capacity for processed raw material.
EVERS ADMINISTRATION’S EFFORTS TO BOLSTER THE WORKFORCE AND REDUCE BARRIERS TO EMPLOYMENT
Gov. Evers has made building a 21st-century workforce to support a 21st-century economy and addressing the state’s long-standing workforce challenges a top priority of his administration. Thanks to these efforts over the last seven years, the state has seen record-low unemployment and record-high employment. Further, annual average wages have also gone up for workers, increasing nearly 26 percent over the governor’s first six years in office, and median wages in 2024 reached an all-time record high.
Earlier this year, while celebrating “National Apprenticeship Week,” Gov. Evers and DWD announced that, for the fifth year in a row, Wisconsin’s Youth Apprenticeship program for high school students saw record-high enrollment. During the 2025-26 school year, a record 12,141 students enrolled in the program, a seven percent increase from the prior year. This is in addition to four consecutive years of record-high enrollment in the state’s Registered Apprenticeship program, which reached a record 18,524 apprentices across more than 3,095 employers in 2025.
Additionally, in February, Gov. Evers delivered his 2026 State of the State address, where he highlighted new efforts by the Evers Administration to address the state’s generational workforce challenges and build a workforce prepared to meet the needs of a 21st-century economy. This includes launching:
- Two new registered apprenticeship pathways for high-demand fields, including the state’s healthcare and education workforces; The new Wisconsin Training for Resilient Advanced Industry Needs (WisTRAIN) employer grant program to deliver employer-driven, occupational skills training focused on advanced manufacturing and artificial intelligence; and
- The first round of funding through the newly created Ignite Wisconsin program, which aims to make strategic investments that will advance startup companies in targeted sectors with high growth potential.
Further, Gov. Evers declared 2024 the Year of the Worker in Wisconsin to highlight the need to address the state’s generational workforce challenges and promote new efforts by the Evers Administration to build a workforce prepared to meet the needs of a 21st-century economy. This included launching the state’s first teacher apprenticeship pilot program, creating the Governor’s Task Force on the Healthcare Workforce and the Governor’s Task Force on Workforce and Artificial Intelligence, establishing the Office of Employee Engagement and Retention for the state of Wisconsin workforce, and more.
But Gov. Evers’ efforts to bolster Wisconsin’s workforce have extended well beyond 2024 the Year of the Worker. In 2021, Gov. Evers launched the state’s Workforce Solutions Initiative, which works to connect unemployed or underemployed workers with new opportunities while also incentivizing innovative solutions to regional workforce challenges. To date, programs included in the governor’s Workforce Solutions Initiative have collectively served 127,775 Wisconsinites across the state.
Of the 127,775 Wisconsinites served by the Wisconsin Solutions Initiative, 118,000 of those workers were helped through the Workforce Innovation Grant Program. Grants were awarded to support projects across the state that seek to address key regional workforce challenges, including barriers to entry, career training, child care, skills training, entrepreneurship, health services, housing, transportation, and more. Through the program, 195 childcare slots were created, 165 housing units were constructed, over 2,550 businesses were served, and 185,000 rides were provided to help workers get to and from work.
Gov. Evers has also made supporting Wisconsin’s current and future workforce a centerpiece of every budget he has introduced as governor, including his most recent 2025-27 Executive Budget. While the final 2025-27 Biennial Budget was a far cry from the budget the governor proposed, in July 2025, the governor signed a budget that made important investments to support Wisconsin’s current and future workforce. This included critical investments in the University of Wisconsin and Technical College systems, as well as over $6 million to support the Youth Apprenticeship program. More information on those investments is available in a previously released press release.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
Mentioned in This Press Release
Recent Press Releases by Gov. Tony Evers
Gov. Evers Slams President Trump and Trump Administration for Playing Politics With Disaster Relief, Pledges to Appeal Decision to Deny Wisconsin Disaster Relief
Jul 14th, 2026 by Gov. Tony EversTrump Administration denies Gov. Evers’ request for public disaster assistance and hazard mitigation relief for Wisconsin communities hit by severe weather this spring
Gov. Evers Slams Trump Administration for Using Misleading Data to Justify Continued Threats to Funding Needed to Prevent Waste, Fraud, and Abuse and Support Wisconsin’s Unemployment Insurance Program
Jul 13th, 2026 by Gov. Tony EversThe Trump Administration continues to withhold millions Wisconsin was promised that would have been used to help modernize state’s UI system and prevent fraud
