$4 million grant to help workers displaced by Rocky Mount QVC Distribution Center fire
ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (WTVD) -- Some help is on the way for hundreds of former workers who lost their jobs when the QVC plant in Rocky Mount went up in flames in December.
Gov. Roy Cooper's office announced Monday that the state has received a $4 million federal workforce grant.
"This new grant will help hundreds of former QVC workers get back on their feet," Cooper said. "While we've already helped many impacted employees get new jobs, many others still need the training and services this new grant provides to help them with new careers."
The December fire killed one QVC worker and destroyed around 75 percent of the 1.5 million-square-foot facility.
The cause has yet to be determined.
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The money will help former QVC workers by providing training and education to help them find a new career.
The North Carolina Department of Commerce's Division of Workforce Solutions (DWS) requested the funds, which were awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor as an Employment Recovery Dislocated Worker Grant.
"The Commerce team and our NCWorks partners, in close coordination with QVC, have responded to this tragedy with workforce services, including successful hiring events in both virtual and in-person formats," said N.C. Department of Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders. "We look forward to using these new resources to empower dislocated workers with new skills and credentials, and to connect them with the many North Carolina employers who are hiring."
The grant is intended to serve approximately 650 people living in a 10-county area.
To administer the grant, DWS will partner with Turning Point Workforce Development Board (which serves Edgecombe, Nash, Halifax, Northampton and Wilson counties) and Rivers East Workforce Development Board (which serves Beaufort, Bertie, Hertford, Martin and Pitt counties).
Former QVC employees who are interested in receiving workforce services should contact their local NCWorks Career Center, which can be found at www.NCWorks.gov.
