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Cohen: U of M Wins $1 Million Grant for New Regional Surface Transportation Workforce Center to Help Create Jobs

October 7, 2014

[MEMPHIS, TN] – While speaking at today’s 8th annual University of Memphis Freight Conference, Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) announced that the University has been selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) as the Southeast Regional Surface Transportation Workforce Center, along with nearly $1 million in federal funding to help launch the new Center. Congressman Cohen, who supported the University’s application for this prestigious selection that will help create jobs, is a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

“I was proud to support the University of Memphis’s efforts to be selected as the Department of Transportation’s Regional Surface Transportation Workforce Center, and I am pleased that it has been selected as one of only five such centers in the United States,” said Congressman Cohen. “The nearly $1 million in federal funding attached to this selection will help Memphis lead the way in transportation workforce development, create good-paying jobs here at home, and further cement our status as the Mid-South’s transportation leader for years to come.”

The $990,000 in federal funding attached to the University of Memphis’ selection today will fund the University’s new center, which aims to promote and expand successful workforce development activities and create jobs within the transportation industry, for 4 years. The DOT will select only 5 Regional Surface Transportation Workforce Development Centers throughout the nation, and the center at the University of Memphis will be the only such center in the entire Southwest region, which includes 12 states and Puerto Rico.

Congressman Cohen has long fought to help Memphis maintain its status as a leader in the transportation and infrastructure industries. He has helped bring current Secretary on Transportation Anthony Foxx and then-Secretary Ray LaHood to the city and he worked for years to secure the $15 million TIGER grant that funds the Main to Main project.