HELENA - The state has received a $250,000 federal grant to help certain seven western Montana counties move from a declining timber economic base toward high-growth industries providing better job opportunities.

The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced the regional innovation grant awarded to the Montana Department of Labor and Industry's Workforce Services Division, which sought it.

"With the nature of the area's economy changing, western Montana is ready to focus on new ways to advance the region's economy," said Douglas Small, the federal agency's assistant secretary for employment and training.

State Labor Commissioner Keith Kelly said the state department sought the grant in November to address the significant changes occurring in the wood-products industry in western Montana.

The money will help coordinate workforce training from the Labor Department, economic development from the Commerce Department and education from the state colleges of technology to help retrain wood-products workers for other jobs.

In 1990, wood-products jobs made up 12.2 percent of the total wages in the department's western Montana region, comprising Lincoln, Flathead, Lake, Sanders, Mineral, Missoula and Ravalli counties. Today, these jobs amount to 4.7 percent of the total wages in the seven counties.

Jobs in the wood-products industry in Montana face the largest transition now, Kelly said, comparing it to the loss of mining-related jobs in recent decades.

The purpose of the grant, Kelly said, is "really to try to sit down with these folks, these leadership groups in western Montana, and ask: How do you make the adjustment? How do we train people in new fields? What can we do to support and complement these through colleges and colleges of technology?"