Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Lauren E. Jones toured Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School Tuesday to give the school $931,000 and award $24.2 million total to help 23 communities expand technical training programs for adults. Whittier Tech Superintendent Maureen Lynch hosted the state and local delegation for a tour and awards presentation. Besides the school, others receiving Career Technical Initiative grants were Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School in Hathorne, $1.4 million, and Greater Lawrence Technical School in Andover, $1.32 million. Grants are administered by the Commonwealth Corporation, a quasi-public agency overseen by the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. Unique to Massachusetts, the CTI program was launched in 2020 and is aimed at unemployed and underemployed adults, specifically in underserved populations, to provide skills training needed by Massachusetts employers. As Jones explained, grants will underwrite training for 2,490 students statewide. “To stay competitive, we need to make sure that students that are graduating today, students that are thinking about their next opportunity for the future as well as adult learners that are trying to figure out their path for a career have access to gain skills to make them employable,” she said. Commonwealth Corporation President and CEO Molly Jacobson said CTI programs provide 200 hours of technical skills training and are generally offered in the evening and during the summer when regular high school programs are not in session. “First it puts to use equipment and space that would otherwise sit idle so it takes advantage of an untapped resource. Second it allows our adult learners to attend to other responsibilities. So maybe they have childcare or family obligations during the day or they are working a second job while they do their training at night,’’ Jacobson said. Culinary Arts student Caitlyn Davis of Merrimac told Jones she already landed a job making sandwiches and mixing coffee drinks at Bucciarelli’s Coffee Shop, Deli and Market in her home town. Likewise, plumbing student Pablo Marte of Haverhill told Jones that thanks to his CTI training, he has been hired by LeClair Plumbing & Heating in Newton, N.H., and Anayah Cortes, said she was delighted to learn that she could turn her passion for cars into a career. Cortes graduated from Haverhill High School in June and took Whittier Tech’s auto body and collision repair CTI class this summer. Partnering with local businesses and industries is the key to the program’s success, Jones said. “We know that it hinges this type of spirit around building our talent, hinges on workforce partnerships which I know is so critical to the Career Technical Initiative bringing together not only vocational schools like Whittier Tech, our MassHire partners, employers and so many training providers that help to provide more opportunities beyond what exposure we get from the Career Technical Initiative,” Jones said. Whittier’s grant will pay for training for 100 students in advanced manufacturing, auto body repair, carpentry, construction, culinary arts, electrical, marine technology, plumbing and welding. Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School’s grant will cover 140 students learning about auto repair, biolab tech, carpentry, CNC machinery, construction, electrical, HVAC, plumbing and welding. Greater Lawrence Technical School will use its grant to provide training to 132 students to qualify for auto repair, carpentry, electrical, HVAC, plumbing and welding positions. Robert LePage, assistant secretary of career education, attended along with representatives of the schools receiving the grants. Also attending were Haverhill Mayor Melinda E. Barrett, at-large Haverhill City Councilor John A. Michitson and Northern Essex Community College President Lane A. Glenn.