Northwest Georgia has received one of seven $500,000 grants announced Thursday in the state's Work Ready Re-gion program.

The money will be used to fund training programs for technologically advanced automotive repair. Coosa Valley Technical College would be the lead provider of that training.

The region receiving the grant includes Catoosa, Chattooga, Floyd, Gordon, Murray, Polk, Paulding, Walker and Whitfield counties. Western Georgia also received a grant for automotive repair.

Other areas in Georgia received grants for training in aerospace advanced manufacturing; for logistics, distribu-tion and warehousing; advanced manufacturing; and bioscience.

“These regions will develop the future workforce pipeline for these identified growth industries by continuing to increase the regional high school graduation rate and establishing life-long learning through a seamless career pathway from high school through the state’s two- and four-year colleges,” said Gov. Sonny Perdue.