WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today awarded an additional $2 million to help North Carolina workers dislocated by the closure of Pactiv Evergreen’s Canton paper mill and by reductions at its Waynesville facility. The funding will ensure impacted workers have uninterrupted access to needed resources, including employment and training services. In June 2023, the department’s Employment and Training Administration announced the National Dislocated Worker Grant award of up to approximately $7.5 million, with an initial award of $2.5 million. The funding enables North Carolina to provide retraining, skills development, and job search assistance for dislocated workers in Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, Swain, and Transylvania counties. With this incremental funding, the total awarded for the project to date is $4.5 million.Supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, National Dislocated Worker Grants provide a state or local board with funding for direct services and assistance in areas experiencing a major economic dislocation event that leads to workforce needs exceeding available resources.