San Francisco–based Jewish Vocational Service has been awarded $6.4 million to help people find work in the Bay Area, part of $170 million in federal grants to help combat long-term unemployment.

The White House announced the Department of Labor grants last week. Spread among 20 states and Puerto Rico, the grants are part of the Ready to Work Partnership initiative to support and scale innovative collaborations between employers, nonprofits and federal job training programs to help connect ready-to-work Americans with ready-to-be-filled jobs.

“San Francisco and the Bay Area have tens of thousands of long-term unemployed. With a substantial investment in new skills training, especially for the growing technology sector, we will get people back to work,” said Abby Snay, executive director of JVS. “This new program is based on intensive employer interviews and surveys. JVS spent months analyzing the gap between the unemployed and the skills employers need and expect from job candidates.”

According to JVS, the grant will fund a new program that will provide the intensive training, education, coaching and employer connections necessary to obtain employment in an increasingly technology-based economy. JVS will serve 800 job seekers over four years, and anticipates at least 85 percent of program graduates will be employed by Bay Area companies.

JVS expects to partner with more than a dozen businesses as a part of the program, including Twitter, eBay, UCSF, Evolv, Zynga and Charles Schwab. Training will cover such areas as administration, network security, computer networking and information technology, front-end Web development and mobile app development.

In addition, JVS also received a recent $30,000 grant from the Hellman Foundation, also to address long-term unemployment. “These dollars are going to help change lives,” Snay said.

Companies and individuals interested in participating in the new program should visit the JVS website at www.jvs.org or call (415) 391-3600.