The U.S. Department of Labor has approved a $7.5 million grant to help out-of-work coal miners in eastern Kentucky.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced the grant on Thursday. The money goes to the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program and is used to train former coal miners to help them find new jobs. Executive Director Jeff Whitehead said similar funds have helped 2,300 workers, with 1,100 of them finding new jobs.
This is the second time the federal government has given money to the program, following a $5.2 million grant in 2013.
McConnell wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez earlier this year in support of the grant application. McConnell said the new grant is enough money to train about 700 workers.
