BOISE, Idaho and BATON ROUGE, La., July 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Washington Group International Inc. announced today it will provide $322,000 in cash and in-kind contributions to a major national effort, unveiled this morning, to recruit and train up to 20,000 new construction workers in the Gulf Coast region by the end of 2009 and to help continue the region's recovery from last year's hurricanes.
The Gulf Coast Workforce Development Initiative is spearheaded by the Business Roundtable, an association of 160 CEOs of the nation's leading companies, and is working cooperatively with businesses, construction trade groups, labor unions, community organizations, academic institutions and federal, state, and local government to achieve this goal. (For the Business Roundtable announcement, see http://www.businessroundtable.org/newsroom.) Roundtable companies are committing up to $5 million for critically needed early funding to coordinate the training and assist in recruiting participants.
"Our contribution to this truly landmark effort reflects Washington Group International's continuing commitments to support communities and regions in which we work and to provide the best in training and development opportunities," said Stephen G. Hanks, Washington Group's president and chief executive officer. "We serve a number of the clients in the Gulf Coast region and are pleased to be able to help in its recovery."
Washington Group will provide the services of a program manager for two years as part of its contribution.
This latest support of the Gulf Coast's recovery follows a combined donation of more than $1.1 million to the American Red Cross for hurricane disaster relief made in October 2005 by Washington Group, its foundation, and employees.
Washington Group International Inc. provides the talent, innovation, and proven performance to deliver integrated engineering, construction, and management solutions for businesses and governments worldwide. Headquartered in Boise, Idaho, with more than $3 billion in annual revenue, the company has approximately 24,000 people at work around the world providing solutions in power, environmental management, defense, oil and gas processing, mining, industrial facilities, transportation, and water resources. For more information, visit http://www.wgint.com/.
