WARREN - Saying the nation's future manufacturing base and middle class will be powered by clean energy, U.S. Rep. Timothy J. Ryan, D-Niles, and other area officials hailed $100 million in federal grants unveiled Wednesday to stimulate the fledgling industry's growth.
''Our manufacturing base just isn't our past, it's our future. Having a work force trained to make these products is the future of the middle class,'' Ryan said on a conference call with U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis in announcing the program.
Ryan pointed out a power-generating windmill contains about 8,000 parts, plus hundreds of tons of steel, along with parts needed to make solar panels.
''This is what we do in northeast Ohio,'' he said. ''These grants are critical to make sure our work force is properly trained to accept and produce these jobs. I think we'll look back when the economy turns around and Ohio is going to be leading the way out of this recession.''
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, pointed out Ohio, facing what he called a ''unique set of issues'' of more persistent downturn and longer recession than the rest of the country, said the money will help make the state ''the Silicon Valley of clean energy manufacturing.''
Brown noted Ohio will trail only California, with 3 1/2 times the population, in dollars from the program, which is part of the $787 billion economic stimulus that federal lawmakers passed last year to revive the economy.
Some $28 million of the total program is being set aside for Ohio communities such as the Warren area, along with Michigan and Indiana, hit hard by the auto industry restructuring.
Displaced auto workers were the focus of two grants that included Trumbull County, while sheet metal workers in Youngstown were included in a separate grant. Steel workers from ArcelorMittal in Cuyahoga County were part of another grant that didn't include the Mahoning Valley.
Exactly how many local workers and how much money will come to the area wasn't spelled out. Candidates should contact their local One-Stop job office for details, officials said.
Trumbull County will be among eight counties getting nearly $4 million to provide wind mill, solar panel and other green manufacturing training for 1,000 workers who lost jobs in the auto industry restructuring, along with military veterans.
Key partnerships in the program include the International Union of Electrical Workers-Communications Workers of America, which saw thousands of its members lose jobs at Delphi Packard Electric in Warren and other locations around the country.
The county also is listed among 44 auto-impacted counties to share in about $4.83 million to train 1,288 dislocated workers, current workers and veterans in energy-efficient construction or upgrades, along with renewable electric power.
Helping coordinate the program, known as the Ohio Green Renewable Opportunities for Workers, or GROWs, will be the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, electrical contractors and others.
Youngstown is among four Ohio cities and 21 nationally that will share in about $5 million to train jobless or underemployed workers, along with veterans, minorities and women, for 1,200 energy-efficient jobs in heating, air conditioning and ventilation.
Leaders pointed to the program as a sign the Obama Administration is focusing on rebuilding the nation's manufacturing sector.
Ryan credited the administration for shepherding General Motors Corp. through bankruptcy court in June, setting the stage for a recovery that will be highlighted when the fuel-efficient Chevrolet Cruze compact car launches at the Lordstown Complex in August.
''Helping GM and the auto industry was the most significant investment in manufacturing in the last 30 years,'' he said.
Brown noted the administration is strengthening manufacturing by enforcing trade laws with China, first on tires and most recently on oil country steel tubes that he said will ''translate directly into jobs in Warren and Youngstown and other areas'' by protecting markets for Wheatland Tube and other steel tube makers.
U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton, D-Copley, said government support for cars like the Cruze sends a message that the auto industry will ''head down that path at a more rapid pace than they might have been inclined to do.''