Work training efforts in Douglas County will share in $15 million targeted for boosting efforts to build health care, biosciences and advanced manufacturing industries in the Kansas City region, officials said Wednesday.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced the regional grant – $5 million annually for the next three years – as part of a $195 million program to boost economic competitiveness in 13 U.S. regions. The local effort spans 10 counties in Missouri and eight in Kansas, including Douglas, Leavenworth and Franklin counties.

The goal is to build a coordinated system for connecting potential workers with available jobs, and to get workers advanced skills to satisfy companies’ needs.

“Success for companies and success for communities is all about getting the right talent. It’s about finding and retaining talent,” said Bob Marcusse, president and CEO of the Kansas City Area Development Council, a partner in the grant effort. “This grant will give the Kansas City region a competitive advantage, because it will enhance our ability to train and educate productive members of our work force.”

Among the possibilities, he said: Community colleges could get financing to hire more nursing instructors, as the health-care industry scrambles to find nurses.

Kristin Wilson, a spokeswoman for Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, said the Kansas City initiative would put money where leaders deemed it necessary: job training and coordination within target industries.

“We think that if we build up in these areas, not only will we have jobs in this year, but in 25 years,” she said.

Rodney Carr, director of the Lawrence Workforce Center, 2540 Iowa, looks forward to learning more about the grant in the coming weeks.

“If we get better coordination – and especially if we’re able to help people with the soft skills – it could be something great,” he said.