Bank of America has thrown its support behind a state workforce development program with a grant that will allow the Office of Workforce Strategy to hire two new strategy directors.
State officials said Austin Hutchinson and Ben Stang will join the office as workforce strategy directors in IT and health care, respectively. The two will work on the rollout of CareerConneCT, a job training program aiming to connect 8,000 residents to job opportunities in high-growth sectors, in addition to coordinating workforce development projects in their respective industries.
Prior to accepting his new role, Hutchinson served as the IBM program manager for the Norwalk P-TECH program, an early college program serving students in Norwalk. Stang previously served as an associate program officer at the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust overseeing a healthcare grant portfolio.
It was not immediately clear how much money Bank of America had made available to the Office of Workforce Strategy to make the two hires.
Gov. Ned Lamont’s office said the bank’s grant makes it “one of the first private companies” to support the Office of Workforce Strategy.
“Especially given the pandemic, Connecticut needs to make sure that our healthcare and IT workforces are fully operational and meeting the growing needs of our local economy,” Lamont said in a statement. “I am excited for Ben and Austin to bring their years of industry experience to drive this important work forward. Having industry partners like Bank of America step up early in this process and provide direct support not only furthers the mission of the Governor’s Workforce Council but encourages additional partners to do the same.”
Lamont announced the launch of CareerConneCT early last month. The program is expected to channel millions of dollars from the federal American Rescue Plan to training providers that offer credentials and job-placement services in industries such as information technology, manufacturing, health care, infrastructure and green energy.
