Walmart supports career program

Walmart Inc. and the Walmart Foundation donated more than $4 million this week to support a career advancement program for retail workers in Colorado, the company said in a news release.

The funds were awarded as a grant to the Colorado Workforce Development Council, which will create 10 public-private partnerships across the state connecting employers with educators and representatives from workforce and economic development groups. The partnerships will design training programs to give retail workers more opportunities to move up in their careers.

Julie Gehrki, the Bentonville retailer’s vice president of philanthropy, said in the release that the award “is a further step in our efforts to strengthen the workforce ecosystem beyond Walmart’s walls through collaboration with public- and privatesector leaders.”

The grant is part of a five-year, $100 million Retail Opportunity Initiative by Walmart and its philanthropic arm to increase the economic mobility of workers. To date, it has funded more than $80 million in grants, according to the release.