The state Employment Development Department has awarded a $994,000 grant to the Pasadena Foothill Workforce Development Board to retrain 120 workers recently laid off in the region, the agency announced Thursday.

The grant will be used for training and re-employment services for workers laid off from Slater’s 50/50 restaurants, H&M Clothing, Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar, Burkard Nurseries Inc., Le Cordon Blue culinary school and Vons grocery store, the agency said in its announcement.

Some of the money will go toward retraining these workers for careers in health care, education, retail, hotel/food service and other professional and technical services. The rest will go toward job placement assistance.

“It is important that these workers receive the training and re-employment services they need to quickly get back to work,” EDD director Patrick Henning said in the announcement. “This grant will help them gain new job skills that they can use to move into new careers in growing industries.”

Public policy and energy reporter Howard Fine can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @howardafine.