Skills & Careers
Texas will spend $1,726,092 on customized job training for 689 new and current workers at employers in the Houston area and the Rio Grande Valley, including 261 workers at Tesla, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday, Oct. 29.
The money comes from four Skills Development Fund grants administered by the Texas Workforce Commission. The awards were presented Wednesday, Oct. 28, at ceremonies at Houston City College and in McAllen, according to the governor’s office. The state said the training targets high-demand occupations in manufacturing, technology, logistics and related fields.
Who gets the training
Three grants go through Houston City College, the institution formerly known as Houston Community College, which adopted its new name in June 2025:
– $782,998 to train 261 workers at Tesla Inc. as maintenance technicians, process technicians, welders and in other roles. – $690,044 to train 300 workers at Texas Tissue LLC and Karsten Management LLC as maintenance technicians, production line operators, design specialists and frontline supervisors. – $83,963 to train 41 workers at Watchfire Signs LLC as operations specialists, industrial maintenance technicians, production supervisors and in other roles.
The fourth grant, $169,087, goes to Workforce Solutions Lower Rio Grande Valley, which will provide customized training for 87 new and current workers at Denso Ten America Limited, Alps Logistics (USA) Inc., Index Fresh Inc. and Emerson Electric Co., in manufacturing, transportation and other occupations. TWC Commissioner Representing Labor Alberto Treviño III presented that award at the Rio Bank McColl Center in McAllen. TWC Chairman Joe Esparza presented the Houston awards.
What these grants are and are not
The Skills Development Fund pays for training, not wages, and the 689 figure is the number of workers the grants are intended to train, not a count of new jobs. The release describes the trainees as “new and current workers,” so some of the money will upgrade the skills of people already employed rather than fund positions for new hires. The state did not say how many of the 689 are new hires or what pay the trained workers will earn.
According to the Texas Workforce Commission, Skills Development Fund grants are made to public community and technical colleges, Texas A&M engineering agencies, workforce development boards and certain community-based organizations, which partner with businesses to deliver customized training. Trainees must be full-time W-2 employees, grants typically last 12 months, and the program is funded by appropriations from the Texas Legislature. The commission puts the average cost at $2,400 per trainee, close to the overall average in this round.
The governor’s office said the program has provided training in partnership with more than 5,000 employers “to upgrade or support the creation of over 446,000 jobs” since it began in 1996. That is a cumulative program figure covering both upgraded and newly created positions, not a measure of net job growth.
Why it matters for workers
The roles named in the Houston grants lean heavily toward plant maintenance and production: maintenance technicians appear in all three, alongside process technicians, welders, line operators and supervisors. The program’s stated goal, according to the commission, is to upgrade the skill levels and wages of the Texas workforce. The release does not say which certifications, if any, the courses will award.
“When we align local training directly with the needs of expanding industries, we strengthen the regional economy,” Esparza said in the release. Abbott said the grants will “equip 689 Texans with the skills they need for high-demand careers.”
The release does not specify which Tesla operations the 261 workers support, how long each course runs, or when training begins. Workers at the named employers who want to take part should ask their employer’s human resources office, since enrollment in Skills Development Fund training runs through the employer and its college or workforce-board partner.
Sources
- Office of the Texas Governor, “Governor Abbott Announces Over $1.7 Million In Job Training Grants To Houston And Rio Grande Valley Areas,” October 29, 2026. https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-announces-over-1.7-million-in-job-training-grants-to-houston-and-rio-grande-valley-areas
- Texas Workforce Commission, “Skills Development Fund,” accessed October 29, 2026. https://www.twc.texas.gov/programs/skills-development-fund
- KPRC 2 Click2Houston, “Houston Community College officially changes name to Houston City College,” June 19, 2025. https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2025/06/19/houston-community-college-officially-changes-name-to-houston-city-college
Featured photo: 3100 Main in Midtown Houston, described on Wikimedia Commons as the headquarters of Houston Community College, now Houston City College; photo undated. Representative image; not the Oct. 28 award ceremony or a Tesla training site. Photo: WhisperToMe, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain). Cropped from the original.
