DALLAS - (May 27, 2015) - The E.P.A. (EPA) announced that the Tarrant Co. College District in Tarrant County, Texas, received one of 19 grants for Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training (EWDJT) grants. Tarrant Co. College received $158,462 to train 57 students in wastewater treatment jobs. Nationwide, E.P.A. awarded $3.6 million in EWDJT grants.
"EPA's job training plan advances economic development by creating job opportunities for workers to serve in their own communities," said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator of EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. "Many graduates-including ex-offenders and veterans-- secure meaningful employment that protects the environment and promotes economic development in some of our neediest communities."
Participants in the Tarrant Co. College plan will gain training in basic wastewater operation, treatment, and collection; water utility safety and calculations; and wastewater lab work. Tarrant Co. College is focused on recruiting unemployed and underemployed area residents, including military veterans, for the program. After training, Tarrant Co. College will also place at least 45 of the graduates in environmental jobs.
The EWDJT plan gives communities flexibility to deliver training that meets local labor market demands. Graduates develop a broad set of skills that improves their ability to secure, not just short term contractual work, but full-time, sustainable employment in the environmental field.
Since the program's inception in 1998, E.P.A. has funded 256 job training grants exceeding $54 million. In excess of 13,900 individuals have completed training, and of those, In excess of 10,000 have secured employment in the environmental field with an average hourly starting wage of $14.18. This equates to a cumulative job placement rate of 72 percent.
These grants support training programs that recruit, train, and place unemployed and under-employed residents of waste-affected communities with the skills and certifications needed to secure employment in the environmental field. Plans are funded based on the comprehensiveness of the training curriculum, the likelihood that graduates will obtain employment, strong public-private partnerships, and diverse community-based organization and employer involvement.
Grantees receiving backing include:
> Zender Environmental Health and Research Group (Anchorage) Alaska
> Fresno Area Workforce Investment Board, California
> City of Richmond, California
> Denver Indian Center, Inc., Colo.
> West End Neighborhood House (Dover) Del.
> Florida State College at Jacksonville, Fla.
> OAI, Incorporated (Chicago) Ill.
> Merrimack Valley Workforce Investment Board (Lawrence) Massachusetts
> Saint Louis Community College, Mo.
> CLIMB Community Development Corporation (Biloxi) Miss.
> The Fortune Society, Incorporated (Long Island City) N.Y.
> Rose State College (Midwest City) Okla.
> Oregon Tradeswomen (Portland) Ore.
> PathStone Corporation, P.R.
> Tarrant Co. College District, Texas
> Great Lakes Community Conservation Corps (Racine) Wisc.
> Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board, Wisc.
> Coalfield Development Corporation (Wayne County) W.Va.
> Groundwork Providence, R.I.
For more information on brownfields grants, including EWDJT grants, by state, please visit:
http://cfpub.epa.gov/bf_factsheets/index.cfm
For more information on EPA's brownfields program, please visit:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields
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