Close to $6 milllion in federal stimulus money has been awarded to Michigan for green jobs training, and some of that money will be spent for the solar industry in mid-Michigan, state officials say.

Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm announced the $5.8 million in funding, designed to train more than 1,000 Michigan residents and place them into jobs.

The State Energy Sector Partnership Training grant will provide resources to implement Granholm's Green Jobs Initiative and support partnerships between industry, labor and workforce organizations focused on providing skilled workers for the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries in Michigan, she said in a statement.

Industry employers and partners have committed to hiring more than 1,000 workers trained through the grant, which is focused on advanced energy storage, solar energy and energy efficient construction, Granholm said.

For the solar energy portion, two project teams, one in Southeast Michigan and a second in mid-Michigan, will assist in training chemical process technicians, solar engineering technicians and installers.

The mid-Michigan team is led by the Great Lakes Bay Michigan Works agency and focused on the current and future workforce needs of Dow Corning, Dow Chemical, Hemlock Semiconductor, Evergreen Solar and Suniva, according to Beth L. Sommers, a state green jobs specialist.

About 300 workers will be trained at Delta College in Bay County as chemical process technicians and for other positions, Sommers said.