State grant to help retrain local workers

California’s Employment Training Panel has signed a $1.8 million contract with the San Bernardino Community College District.

That partnership will train more than 3,200 workers in Riverside and San Bernardino counties and is the largest retraining agreement ever approved by the training panel, according to  a statement.

Since 2009, when it began providing training panel classes, the district has served more than 200 businesses in Southern California and provided in-demand job skills to more than 6,300 workers, said Richard Galope, the district’s vice chancellor of workforce development, in the statement.

All businesses and employees must be based in California to participate in the training panel program. Also, businesses must pay their employees at least their regular salary while attending classes, according to the statement.