(Lenexa, Kan., May 22, 2015) - Saint Louis Community College (STLCC) has been selected to gain a $192,300 grant from E.P.A. to recruit, train and place local unemployed and underemployed individuals in full-time sustainable green jobs in a range of environmental fields. The grant comes from EPA's Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training (EWDJT) program.
Announcement of the grant was made this morning in Saint Louis by E.P.A. Assistant Administrator Mathy Stanislaus, the top official of the Agency's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, during his remarks to the most recent group of ten new graduates from STLCC's Environmental Remediation Job Training Program.
This is the 5th time STLCC has received backing from the E.P.A. grant plan since 2000. Since receiving its 1st grant, STLCC has successfully trained 310 plan graduates, in excess of 75 percent of whom have been placed in the local job market in specialized "in-demand" positions, such as Superfund location cleanup, ecological restoration, and lead and asbestos abatement at brownfields remediation projects, earning average hourly wages of $15.70.
The E.P.A. grant to STLCC for fiscal year 2015 will allow the college to recruit and train another 69 students through its program, with a goal of placing at least 55 graduates in full-time green jobs.
Speaking today to the latest group of plan graduates, their families and special guests, Stanislaus commended their academic success while crediting strong support to STLCC's plan from partners throughout the greater Saint Louis community. That support comes from non-profit groups, labor organizations, local governments, and private sector employers.
"At EPA, we review our grant applicants and make our plan backing decisions based on 3 general principles," Stanislaus said. "We consider the likelihood that graduates will obtain employment, and we also support plans backed by strong public-private partnerships, and plans with diverse community-based organization and employer involvement. I am pleased to say that Saint Louis enjoys an overarching level of success in all 3 of these criteria. Together as partners, you do so much to support job opportunity and community revitalization."
Graduates of the STLCC plan complete a six-week course in which they gain 224 hours of core training in a broad spectrum of environmental job skills, ranging from hazardous waste remediation to construction safety to stormwater management. Students earn a total of 19 federal, state or college-level certifications that help them qualify for employment in a variety of environmental fields.
Since E.P.A. launched the EWDJT grant plan in 1998, it has funded 256 grants totaling over $54 million. Nationwide, in excess of 13,800 individuals have completed training, and of those, in excess of 10,000 have secured employment in environmental fields. The plan targets its training and job placement assistance for low-income unemployed and underemployed individuals in rural and urban communities with areas historically affected by blight, economic disinvestment, and solid and hazardous waste sites. The EWDJT plan is one of EPA's premier community-based grant programs that highlights the Agency's commitment to advancing environmental justice.
