The news that the unemployment rate was stagnant at 9.1 percent nationwide sent markets into a tailspin. But the outlook for Montgomery County is a bit brighter: the county’s unemployment rate dropped from 7.6 percent in July 2010 to 7.1 percent a year later.  

Career building educational programs at Montgomery County Community College are designed to help area residents to lower that figure, and stay employed. 

For the second year, the Montgomery County Department of Economic and Workforce Development has awarded the college five grants totaling $411,872 for 2011, according to a Montgomery County Community College press release. The college was awarded about $310,000 last year. 

The five grants are intended to be used to support General Education Development (better known as GED) training and other career building programs for residents of Montgomery County. 

The largest of the grants, $194,169, is intended to support ongoing programs and services for 16 to 21 year olds who did not finish high school or who are considered “out-of-school youth.” Some of the programs and services funded by the grants include career goal planning, the achievement of a GED or high school diploma, career exploration, work readiness training and job placement or enrollment in postsecondary school, the release said. The grant also supports the ongoing YouthBuild Program, which provides leadership development, GED preparation, construction and work experience, work readiness coaching and community service opportunities. 

A second grant, for $93,952, facilitates the partnership between the college and the Montgomery County Workforce Investment Board to offer GED preparation courses at the West Campus in Pottstown. The college offers nine, 60-hour GED programs every year, accommodating an average of 15 students in each class for tutoring, planning and coaching. The grant also covers GED exam fees for as many as 100 students through June 2012. 

A third grant, for $59,991, will fund a full-time assessment specialist to strengthen career, counseling and assessment services within CareerLink; and the fourth grant, of $52,000, will fund training for computer training for CareerLink participants. 

The fifth grant, for $11,760, was applied toward a six-week youth entrepreneurship program for 16 children between the ages of 16 and 19 over the summer at the Blue Bell Campus.  

The Montgomery County Department of Economic and Workforce Development oversees local economic and workforce programs that stimulate business in the county and aid residents who are seeking jobs. The group manages the Montgomery County Workforce Investment Board, the Montgomery County Industrial Development Authority, the Montgomery County Development Corporation, PA CareerLink, the Office of Career Development, the Youth Council and EARN, a welfare-to-work program.