CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The federal government has begun soliciting bids for the construction of a Jobs Corps Center in Manchester, N.H., three years after the project was stalled by contract language that would have required the facility to be built by union labor.

The residential education and job training complex will serve low-income youth ages 16 to 24, with a focus on homeland security, health care and hospitality jobs. Planning for the center began more than a decade ago but it has been in limbo since 2009, when the bidding process was cancelled.

At issue was a "project labor agreement" included in the bid solicitation that would have required construction contractors to negotiate with union officials, recognize union wages and generally abide by collective bargaining agreements. New Hampshire has the smallest unionized construction workforce in New England, and opponents of the requirement said it would favor out-of-state unionized contractors rather than New Hampshire companies that employ in-state workers.