The U.S. Department of Labor has just awarded Kansas City a $5 million grant to help train younger adults for tech jobs.

The Full Employment Council aims to help 2,000 workers between the ages of 17 and 29 over the next five years. In addition to the federal grant, the council has secured almost $5 million in additional funding for the effort.

The Labor grant is part of the Obama administration’s TechHire initiative. It’s designed to create accelerated training programs for jobs in information technology, health care, financial services and advanced manufacturing, as well as “talent pipelines” to place newly trained workers with local employers.

The United States has a growing need for people with these skills. Even better, these positions tend to pay about one and a half times more than an average job. Almost 40 percent of these positions don’t require a four-year degree, the White House says.

President Obama unveiled the TechHire effort last year. The White House has set aside $150 million for grants. More than $125 million is for training for younger adults. Another $24 million will be dedicated to specific groups like veterans, people with disabilities or limited English and former convicts. Kansas City is one of 39 communities to win TechHire funding.

Deputy Labor Secretary Christopher Lu visited Kansas City this week to announce the grant award.

“The Department of Labor is proud to spur innovation in places like Kansas City through TechHire,” Lu wrote in a blog post. “And we’ll continue working tirelessly to invest in and support communities who are developing fast-track tech training opportunities so employees are skilled in the technology of today and equipped to drive the technology of the future.”