A Minnesota jobs program has provided $238,000 to two daily papers and a local journalism school for job training.

The Minnesota Job Skills Partnership program gave the Duluth News Tribune, the St. Paul Pioneer Press and the University of Minnesota’s School of Journalism & Mass Communication the funds to retrain their workers.

As part of the grant, the two newspapers and journalism school will collectively contribute $469,330, mostly through in-kind contributions of staff time for training.

The Minnesota Jobs Skills Partnership Program helps Minnesota businesses and schools competitively train the workforce. Grants are awarded by the Partnership Board to educational institutions that partner with businesses to develop new-job training or retraining for existing employees. All training projects pair at least one public/private accredited Minnesota educational institution and one business. Funds may be used for training-related costs or educational infrastructure improvements necessary to support businesses located or intending to locate in Minnesota. A cash or in-kind contribution from the contributing business must match program funds on at least a one-to-one ratio.