DUXBURY, MA: VERC Enterprises, a leading convenience store and Mobil/Gulf/Irving/Shell gasoline operator with locations throughout Massachusetts and New Hampshire, has been awarded $140,000 as part of a statewide Workforce Grant Training Program.

VERC Enterprises will apply the funds from the grant to employee training and will match the grant with $140,000 of its own funds, bringing the total cost of the training to $280,000. Barry Ahern, Vice President of Operations at VERC Enterprises, said that the company sought the grant based on feedback from employees as a result of their Annual Employee Engagement Survey. The specific areas of training will include Leadership and Management Skills; Supervisory Skills; Lean Thinking & Processes for Operations; ESOL (English as a Second Language); MS Office Tools; Task and Time Management, and Effective Communications/Teamwork. This is the third time that VERC Enterprises has applied for and received a Workforce Training Grant. The VERC award is one of 96 grants overall, totaling $10 million in Workforce Training Fund Program (WTFP) grants, aimed at training more than 6,500 workers and creating 1,361 new jobs in the state by 2021. The grants awarded involve 133 companies from across the Commonwealth and will fund customized training that promotes job growth, retention, and increased opportunity for workers. The awards were announced by Lt. Governor Karyn Polito and Governor Charlie Baker. The Workforce Training Fund is a program of the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development and is administered by Commonwealth Corporation, the quasi-public workforce development agency that runs the programs that teach people how to work, providing lifelong learning for careers of a lifetime. Since 2015, the Workforce Training Fund has awarded 809 grants totaling more than $80 million to train 60,000 workers from over 1,000 different Massachusetts businesses. The Workforce Training Fund provides grants ranging from $10,000 to $250,000 to companies in Massachusetts to pay for employee training over a two-year period. Grant recipients contribute a matching investment of at least one dollar for each grant-dollar awarded, with wages paid to trainees during training hours included in that investment. In addition to the General Program grants, the WTFP also offers an Express Program that subsidizes up to 50 percent of the cost for pre-qualified courses chosen from a database and a Small Business Direct Access Program that subsidizes 100 percent of the cost for pre-qualified courses in the highest demand. Employers are encouraged to visit workforcetrainingfund.org to learn more and apply for grants. Leo Vercollone, Chief Executive Officer at VERC Enterprises, said, “We are very pleased to have been selected for this Workforce Training Fund grant. We are big believers in the importance of training and providing the very best resources for our team members, and this award will help us to continue with our mission to do so.”