^*>«^ * ^fl^b • '^g? I Brownfields 2011 Job Training Grant Fact Sheet ^ **"T/ 7A7e Center for Working Families, Inc., Atlanta, GA EPA Brownfields Program In 2010, the Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR) led an effort to more closely collaborate on workforce development and job training with other programs within EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER), including the Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery (ORCR), Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation (OSRTI), Office of Underground Storage Tanks (OUST), Federal Facilities Restoration and Reuse Office (FFRRO), Center for Program Analysis (CPA), Innovation, Partnerships, and Communication Office (IPCO), and the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) to develop a job training cooperative agreement opportunity that includes expanded training in other environmental media outside the traditional scope of just brownfields. As a result of these discussions, the "Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Grants Program," formerly known as the "Brownfields Job Training Grants Program," was formed and now provides grantees the ability to deliver additional hazardous and solid waste training. By expanding the program, communities are provided the flexibility to deliver new types of environmental training based on local labor market demands. Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training grant funds are provided to nonprofit organizations and other eligible entities to recruit, train, and place predominantly low-income and minority, unemployed and under-employed residents from solid and hazardous waste-impacted communities. Residents learn the skills needed to secure full-time, sustainable employment in the environmental field, including a focus on assessment and cleanup activities. These grants help to create green jobs that reduce environmental contamination and promote sustainability in communities throughout the nation. EPA awarded its first Brownfields Job Training Grants in 1998. To date, more than 5,000 people have obtained environmental employment in the environmental field with an average starting hourly wage of $14.65. Community Description The Center for Working Families, Inc., will target its job training activities on a 3.5-square mile area south of Job Training Grant $300,000 EPA has selected The Center for Working Families, Inc., (TCWFI) for an environmental workforce development and job training grant. TCWFI plans to train 34 students, place 29 graduates in environmental jobs, and track graduates for one year. The Green Jobs Opportunity Pathway training program will consist of four 218-hour training cycles, with a focus on hazardous and solid waste remediation and green construction skills. Courses will include 40-hour HAZWOPER; OSHA construction safety and health; underground storage tank leak prevention awareness; green construction; and lead, asbestos, and mold abatement. Primary trainers will be Southface Energy Institute and Clark Atlanta University. Students will be recruited from unemployed and underemployed, low-income residents of Neighborhood Planning Unit-V (NPU-V) who face significant barriers to employment. TCWFI will work with local environmental employers and its training providers to place graduates in environmental jobs Of the several companies that have agreed to interview program graduates, TCWFI Construction Solutions, Inc., a subsidiary of TCWFI, has committed to hiring 60 percent of program graduates for jobs that involve rehabilitating houses in NPU-V. Contacts For further information, including specific grant contacts, additional grant information, brownfields news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields Web site (http://www.epa.gov/brownfields). EPA Region 4 Brownfields Team (404) 562-8792 EPA Region 4 Brownfields Web site (http://www.epa.gov/region4/was te/bf) United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 560-F-11-047 July 2011 ------- AUiUllil KI1UWI1 CIS INClgllUUIIlUUU riiUlIHIlg UI11L- V (NPU-V) (population 15,825). NPU-V, which is part of a federally designated Renewal Community, includes five of Atlanta's oldest residential neighborhoods. The target communities have an abundance of vacant and dilapidated houses that present potential health risks to the community due to the presence of lead, asbestos, mold, and electrical hazards. In NPU-V, 42 percent of homes are vacant and, in some areas, up to 40 percent of homes are in foreclosure. The target area has a poverty rate of 35 percent and an unemployment rate of 18.3 percent, both of which far exceed state and national averages. Ninety-two percent of NPU-V residents are African-American. The Georgia Department of Labor estimates that the demand for workers skilled in the construction trades will grow by 13 percent between 2006 and 2016, and demand for specialty trade contractors is expected to grow by 41 percent during the same time period. In addition, Atlanta is poised to take advantage of an influx of federal funding for weatherization and green construction. These trends point to a long term need for workers with green construction and environmental technician training. Grant Recipient: The Center for Working Families, Inc.,GA 4042307127 The information presented in this fact sheet comes from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. The cooperative agreement for the grant has not yet been negotiated. Therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change. United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 560-F-11-047 July 2011 ------- |