Tammy Loewy, co-owner of Green Goddess Natural Market in Lake Placid, says a workforce development grant will help provide her staff with customer service training. (Enterprise photo — Andy Flynn)

State grants totaling $3.4 million were awarded to help with ongoing worker training at 61 businesses, community colleges and community-based organizations across the state, 10 of which are in the North Country.

Four of those are in the Tri-Lakes region: Bitters & Bones and Grizle-T’s bars in Saranac Lake, Green Goddess Natural Market in Lake Placid, and Sugar House Creamery in Upper Jay.

Tammy Loewy, who co-owns Green Goddess, said her business received about $700, which will go toward customer service training.

“We’re looking to do a nice training program with a professional group,” she said in a phone interview Friday. “We initially looked at a group called CITEC (Business Solutions) out of Plattsburgh. What they were offering was phenomenal, but the price was not what we wanted to spend. This grant will cover, I believe, 90% of the cost.

“It’s fantastic that our staff wants to be educated and better understand the needs and the experience of the customers.”

Other North Country recipients include Citizen Advocate Harvest Hill Farm, Hunt Companies, Juniper Hill Farm, the Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Mountain Lake Services.

This batch of grants is part of the state’s $175 million Workforce Development Initiative. Professional training is expected to provide 2,464 New Yorkers with in-demand skills. Since launching in May 2019, nearly $6.5 million has been awarded through the Workforce Development Initiative. Grant funds are provided by the state Department of Labor, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the State University of New York.

“These awards will help ensure that thousands of workers across the state are not only prepared for the jobs of today but are ready to take on the jobs of tomorrow,” said Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a press release Thursday. “New York’s workforce must adapt to the rapidly changing, modern economy and the Workforce Development Initiative will give our workers the edge they need to stay competitive.”