PROPOSALS DUE: February 15, 2024
PROJECT LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA
PROJECT TIMEFRAME: 3/1/2024 – 9/1/2024
Project Summary at a Glance:
In partnership with the Department of Labor (DoL), the ARM Institute is committed to rapidly upskilling and placing displaced workers in family-sustaining careers. For the last three years, the ARM Institute has been working with AmSkills, located in the Tampa, FL, to deliver a series of career discovery manufacturing bootcamps. These two-week long rapid bootcamps provide individuals the opportunity to discover a multitude of manufacturing opportunities and to be “job-ready” at the end of the bootcamp. Through the two weeks, potential employees are also gaining soft skills such as interviewing techniques and resume updating/building.
In the Fall of 2023, the ARM Institute began expanding these programmatic opportunities to the Pittsburgh region. The ARM Institute is issuing this RFP to solicit additional training partners in the Pittsburgh, PA region who can utilize their own rapid robotics training for individuals interested in careers in advanced manufacturing and robotics. Training must be completed in under a month with the two-week time period being ideal. Robotics technician training will specifically be aimed at providing WIOA Dislocated Workers avenues to advanced manufacturing employment per the parameters of the DoL grant.
Download the full RFP using the link for more detailed information.
Download full RFP here
Project Description:
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) was a landmark legislation that is designed to strengthen and improve our nation’s public workforce system and help get Americans, with significant barriers to employment, into high-quality jobs and careers and help employers hire and retain skilled workers.
The ARM Institute is requesting proposals to solicit training partners who can develop and deliver advanced manufacturing and/or robotics rapid training opportunities for WIOA Dislocated Workers in the City of Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas. The WIOA Dislocated Worker (DW) program is designed to help workers get back to work as quickly as possible and overcome barriers to employment. Eligible individuals become dislocated workers as a result of job loss, mass layoffs, global trade dynamics, or transitions in economic sectors.
In order to be defined as a rapid robotics training program, candidates enrolled should be trained in less than a month with the two-week timeframe being ideal. Career discovery bootcamps should focus on advanced manufacturing and/or robotics and the development of soft skills to aid in the ease of employment of participants in required. Encouraging candidates to create profiles on RoboticsCareer.org should also be encouraged.
This opportunity is being offered through a grant from the DoL. The grant ends September 30, 2024, so the timeframe for program development, should it be needed, is relatively tight. The program is specially targeted to WIOA Dislocated Workers but all workers who are interested in Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics should be considered during bootcamp development. The ARM Institute Education & Workforce Development (EWD) Team is working to recruit WIOA Dislocated Workers for these programs. Potential training providers are not being asked to recruit individuals, but to have rapid training programs ready when a cohort of individuals is identified.
The ARM Institute is looking for rapid training programs that already exist but potential partners who can establish rapid training opportunities in advance manufacturing and/or robotics quickly are encouraged to apply.
More information & instructions to reply:
Proposals will be accepted at any time between now and February 15, 2024. The proposals should be submitted via email by 11:59pm on February 15, 2024, to [email protected]
Receipt of proposals will be handled by the contact listed above or their designee. Proposals, modifications, or corrections received after the closing time on the PROPOSAL DUE date will be considered late and will not be reviewed.
Questions regarding this RFP should be directed to [email protected]
Download the full RFP using the link for more detailed information.
Download full RFP
ABOUT THE ARM INSTITUTE
The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute is a Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII) funded by the Office of the Secretary of Defense under Agreement Number W911NF-17-3-0004 and is part of the Manufacturing USA® network. The ARM Institute leverages a unique, robust, and diverse ecosystem of 400+ consortium members and partners across industry, academia, and government to make robotics, autonomy, and artificial intelligence more accessible to U.S. manufacturers large and small, train and empower the manufacturing workforce, strengthen our economy and global competitiveness, and elevate national security and resilience. Based in Pittsburgh, PA since 2017, with a satellite office in St. Petersburg, FL, the ARM Institute is leading the way to a future where people & robots work together to respond to our nation’s greatest challenges and to produce the world’s most desired products. For more information, visit www.arminstitute.org and follow the ARM Institute on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).