The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration has awarded two major grants totaling $54.6 million to support training for green jobs.
The new investments are the first two of five major training grants expected to be announced over the next several months to help create new green jobs and promote economic growth. The funding comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The two grants, announced on November 18, will provide $48.8 million to improve state labor-market information and $5.8 million to help local communities expand their capacity to provide training for green jobs.
“It is time for America to seize the opportunity of a clean energy economy, and American workers must lead this green revolution,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis. “That is why we are investing these dollars here at home in American jobs and American innovation. By making strategic choices now, we will restore our country’s role as a global leader in the clean energy industry.”
The green-capacity building grants will boost the ability of 62 current Labor Department grant recipients to train targeted communities, including American Indians, women, at-risk youth and farm workers on green jobs.
Although the green-capacity grants did not require partnerships with unions, one recipient is a union, another is union-sponsored and twelve utilize partnerships with unions, nine of which are affiliated with the AFL-CIO.
Recipients of the green-capacity grants include the San Diego Imperial Counties Labor Council, in partnership with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, UA Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 230, and Sheet Metal Workers’ Local 206.
The San Diego Imperial Counties Labor Council will use grant funds to expand and refocus existing training curriculum to emphasize emerging green sectors. The research-based green jobs curriculum will serve as a road map for workers to obtain skills necessary to enter into union apprenticeship programs and leading them to jobs in the green economy.
The state labor-market information improvement grants will support collecting, analyzing and distributing labor market data to identify job and career opportunities within the energy efficiency and clean energy industries.
These grants will help implement effective workforce development strategies and infrastructure for job seekers. Thirty grants, ranging from $763,000 to $4 million, were given to state workforce agencies and regional consortia of state workforce agencies.
