Two Grand Valley organizations are among the recipients of new grants intended to promote work force development in Colorado.

The Family Health West Foundation received a seed grant of more than $1.5 million through the Opportunity Now Colorado program. The Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce received a nearly $50,000 planning grant.

Forty-six recipients received a total of $27 million through three grant tracks to create or further partnerships among educational institutions, industry leaders and employers to develop the work force. Grant recipients are located in 19 counties and serve each of 14 regions of Colorado as well as three priority industry sectors of education, heath care and infrastructure. The recipients were selected from 425 applications from a total of more than 1,000 education and industry partners.

The grants will fund programs that create pathways between education and employment and promote opportunities for learners and earners to become more economically mobile.

A total of nearly $14.7 million was awarded in five scale grants, almost $10.8 million in nine seed grants and about $1.6 million in 32 planning grants.

The program was established by state legislation enacted in 2022 and sponsored in part by then State. Rep. Janice Rich, a Republican from Grand Junction.

“We need to create the foundation for progress and innovation,” said Rich, now a state senator. “Opportunity Now gives grantees tools that will boost the Colorado work force, including in education, health care and infrastructure.”

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis also praised the program. “Across the state, employers are looking to hire the top talent that Colorado is known for. The Opportunity Now Colorado grant recipients announced today will help Coloradans develop the skills and experience our growing industry partners need and unlock access to good-paying jobs.”

The Family Health West Foundation will work with Colorado Mesa University, the Western Colorado Area Health Education Center and Western Colorado Community Center to provide education to students and remove barriers to careers in health care.

The Grand Junction chamber will work with CMU, Mesa County School District 51 and the Mesa County Workforce Center to help connect students and young adults with jobs and work-based learning opportunities.

Eve Lieberman, executive director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, said partnerships between educational institutions and employers have proven apprenticeship and on-the-job-training programs create career pathways. “These Opportunity Now Colorado grant recipients will foster more of these opportunities at the regional level and contribute to a strong economy that works for everyone,” Lieberman said.

Joe Barela, executive director of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, said grants will support work force development, including efforts to increase registered apprenticeships across the state. “At the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, we’re laser focused on preparing Colorado’s current and future work force for the high-skill and in-demand jobs our economy needs to thrive.”

Two additional rounds of funding will be made available through the Opportunity Now Colorado program, which the next application period opening later this summer. Applicants that didn’t receive grants in the first round will have an opportunity to leverage their initial applications in completing future applications.