Federal grant to help laid-off Prineville millworkers

The U.S. Department of Labor has just awarded nearly $500,000 to a state agency helping about 100 former millworkers laid off after heavy snow collapsed the roof over part of the Woodgrain Millwork plant in Prineville.

A Labor Department spokesman said Thursday the Oregon Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development is receiving a National Emergency Grant of $499,801, which it applied for last month, to provide employment services to the affected workers..

A mid-November storm brought heavy snow and ice to the area and caused the roof of the plant to collapse. In total, about 200 workers lost their jobs.

People who worked in the affected areas of the mill were put on temporary layoff status, until later that month, when the company filed notice of the plant’s closure under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

That meant the immediate layoff for most workers, followed by smaller, rolling layoffs of those who assisted in the plant shutdown process, officials said.