Finger Lakes Wired is allocating $350,000 to make more scholarships available to businesses in the nine-county Finger Lakes region.   Businesses in the following industries may apply for up to $10,000 in funding:  Advanced Manufacturing, Alternative Energy, Bio/Life Sciences, Business Services, Engineering, Food & Agriculture, Health Care (including not-for-profit Health Care organizations), Information Technology, and Optics/Imaging.   In May 2007, Finger Lakes Wired announced grant awards totaling $1,445,943 to regional businesses in Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Seneca, Wayne and Wyoming counties to enable employers to upgrade skills of 2,326 employees.  “The initial demand for grants was so strong we are very pleased to have new funding available to help those businesses that were not able to get funding,” said Matthew C. Hurlbutt, Managing Director of Finger Lakes Wired. Hurlbutt added, “Training must accomplish one of several goals, 1) Develop management competencies of mid - senior level Managers, 2) Develop technical/occupational skill competencies of employed workers or 3) Implement process or productivity improvement initiatives (such as Lean, ISO, Six Sigma, Sarbanes Oxley, etc).    Training must be completed by January 31, 2008. Award decisions will be made within approximately ten days of receipt of applications. Businesses that received a previous Wired Scholarship are not eligible to apply.  “This region’s talent will drive economic growth so training grant assistance like the Wired Scholarships is an important component in building a strong and competitive workforce,” said Hurlbutt. Grant applications and instructions can be found at www.fingerlakeswired.com. For more information contact: Claudia Burcke, Finger Lakes Wired 255 North Goodman St., Rochester, NY 14607 (585) 258-3541 (Phone) (585) 232-6033 (Fax)                                                                                   Finger Lakes Wired is one of 13 designated WIRED regions in the country funded by the U. S. Department of Labor WIRED (Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development) Initiative to support economic development and transform regional economies. Finger Lakes Wired initiatives focus on a nine-county region surrounding Rochester N.Y., to increase entrepreneurship and innovation, expand employment, advance opportunities for workers, and enhance the talent of the workforce through the creation of high-skill and high-wage opportunities.