Just days before the Biden administration took office, the US Labor Department recognized the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce for bringing about a crucial policy change that opens federal job training grants to fund job training programs run by small and midsize community based organizations across the country helping all communities and Chambers of Commerce stimulate Job Creation throughout the United States.
Under the new rules, a minimum of 20% percent of accepted applications must be from small to midsize organizations. Previously, these grants were given exclusively to a select group of major organizations, choking vital resources at the grassroots level.
The Chamber relentlessly advocated for this change to be made, one of many areas of successful advocacy at the Federal level. Mark Zelden, who served as the Assistant Secretary of Labor & Director of the Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives at the Labor Department, an office established by former President Trump, called the joint efforts between the Center and the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce a “model example” of Trump’s vision to increase the role of grassroots and faith based organizations across the country.
With newly funded job training programs in cities and towns across the nation, countless new jobs will be created, which would not have been possible under the old rules. “It is humbling to see the Kiddush Hashem that the Chamber made by positively influencing policies that assist Americans of all faiths, in all states,” says Duvi Honig, Founder and CEO of the Chamber. “We look forward to continue working on these issues with President Biden and his administration.”
