The federal government has begun soliciting bids for the construction of a Jobs Corps Center in Manchester, three years after the project was stalled by contract language that would have required the center be built by union labor.The residential education and job training facility will serve youth ages 16 to 24, with a focus on homeland security, health care and hospitality jobs.
The U.S. Department of Labor initially solicited bids in 2009 but included a requirement for a collective bargaining agreement with workers. That requirement has now been dropped and the solicitation has been reissued.
The latest development was announced by Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who pushed the labor department to drop the requirement, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who was governor when she first submitted the proposal in 2001.