Gov. Maura Healey said Wednesday that her administration will look to invest $20 million into a workforce training system to “align” child care, education, job training, and employment opportunities in Western Massachusetts.

Healey, speaking virtually from her office on Beacon Hill during an event hosted by the White House, said workers in Springfield and Holyoke suffer from among the highest rates of poverty and unemployment in the state.

“It’s also an area we know there’s a great opportunity for growth. One of our clean energy companies is about to build out there. But we need to support a workforce. And so we’ve got a plan that we just built out, working with our regional workforce board, that takes a new approach to addressing some of these deep inequalities of race and geography,” Healey said.

A spokesperson for Healey said the MassHire Hampden County Workforce Board and local community partners are seeking a U.S. Economic Development Administration grant the Distressed Area Recompete Pilot Program, which was set up under the CHIPS and Science Act.

The proposal from the workforce board “will create a workforce training system that will help provide child care, education, job training, and employment opportunities for workers in Springfield and Holyoke,” the spokesperson, Karissa Hand, said.

“The coalition applicants — one of 22 other finalists across the country — are currently working to finalize their application, which is due on April 25,” Hand said in a statement.

Healey said even though Massachusetts’ economy is “strong” and the local unemployment rate is low, employers are still having a hard time filling open jobs because of barriers like the lack of affordable child care.

The program like the one the MassHire board in Hampden County is pursuing “will enable us to provide affordable quality childcare, that in particular has limited the ability of women to fully participate, achieve financial independence, and overcome wage gaps.”

“We know this is not just a full of government approach. It’s a whole of society approach and bringing everyone to the table to solve this childcare cap challenge, educators, employers advocates, and labor, is so so important,” Healey said.