Workforce Development

A Hawaiian company is eyeing the outer islands of Manu’a in American Samoa for its first tele-medicine network.

The Native Hawaiian Holdings Company has already been awarded a 4.9 million US dollar contract to train American Samoans for jobs in the tele-medicine industry and other technology related opportunities.

ETA News Release: [06/27/2012]
Contact Name: Clarisse Young or Jason Kuruvilla
Phone Number: (202) 693-5051 or x6587
Release Number: 12-1293-SAN

US Labor Department awards grant supplement to fund continuation of employment and training services for tsunami cleanup workers in American Samoa

(UTULEI: Wednesday, June 27, 2012) ‒ Governor Togiola Tulafono today announced the U.S. Department of Labor has awarded a $500,000 National Emergency Grant supplement to continue re-employment and training services for workers who were hired on a temporary basis to help with cleanup and recovery efforts in the wake of the tsunami that struck American Samoa in September 2009.

(UTULEI: Wednesday, March 21, 2012) –Governor Togiola Tulafono today said the final workforce development projects are underway for the U.S. Department of Labor National Emergency Grant (NEG) program under the management of the American Samoa Government (ASG) Department of Human Resources (DHR).

Governor Togiola said with the implementation of the remaining projects, the program outcomes are well within reach as the DHR NEG staff advances towards a swift ramp-up of the training and employment projects with the contact center industry and the fiber-optic cable project.

The more than 60 worksites for the federally funded National Emergency Grant (NEG) officially closed late last month and final performance reports have been turned in, according to the Governor’s Authorized Representative (GAR) Evelyn Vaitautolu Langford.

The NEG grant of $24 million was awarded to American Samoa in October 2009 to assist with temporary employment assistance thru disaster recovery, cleanup and humanitarian restoration jobs. ...

A culinary school based in American Samoa has been awarded a half a million dollar contract to provide a culinary training school, which is a project that the government hopes will ready local workforce for the hospitality industry.

American Samoa's post tsunami disaster economic recovery strategies, developed under the leadership of ASG Government Authorized Representative (GAR) and Human Resource director Vaitautolu Evelyn Langford, have captured the attention of several development organizations for their innovative approach to island development and their sensitivity to island culture - they have been featured in economic development forums from L.A. to Washington DC to Juneau, Alaska.

Twenty-eight students yesterday received their Certificate in culinary arts during the American Samoa Culinary Academy graduation ceremony for the first ever culinary school in the territory, a project that the American Samoa Government hopes will ready local workforce for the hospitality industry.

Human Resources director Evelyn Vaitautolu Langford had told Samoa News that among the training programs the government was looking at for the American Samoa National Emergency Grant (ASG-NEG) was a cook's training school to be set up here.

The Department of Human Resources is hoping for the first session of call center training to get underway at the start of the new year, while the second class for the School of Culinary Arts began two months ago.

American Samoa wants to train about 1,500 participants under the Call Center Training Facility project, which was awarded in July this year to California-based American Pacific Resources Inc. for $1.59 million, but the following month it was challenged by Honolulu-based American Samoa Services Associates Corporation (ASSAC), whose bid was $5 million...

Presentation of American Samoa Recovery Strategy to the Southeast Alaska Economic Development Summit