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News Releases from Region 04

Training to Work an Industry Niche selected for Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Grant

05/07/2018
Contact Information: 
James Pinkney (pinkney.james@epa.gov)
(404) 562-9183 (Direct), (404) 562-8400 (Main)

ATLANTA (May 7, 2018)Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Training to Work an Industry Niche in Charlotte, N.C. as one of 17 organizations that has been selected to receive funding to operate environmental job training programs for local residents. Funded through the agency’s Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training (EWDJT) Program, the organizations will receive a total of approximately $3.3 million to help residents learn the skills needed to secure employment in the environmental field. 

“Through these Brownfields job training programs, we’re investing in getting Americans back to work and improving local economies and the environment,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.  “Graduates will acquire the skill set necessary to gain full-time employment in the environmental field and help revitalize their communities.” 


“The EWDJT grants will recruit, train, and place unemployed individuals in jobs that address environmental challenges in their communities,” said Region 4 Administrator Trey Glenn.

“These investments will benefit the health of local communities by targeting economically disadvantaged neighborhoods where environmental cleanups and jobs are often most needed.”

The organization plans to train 40 students and place at least 36 graduates in environmental jobs. The training program includes 158 hours of instruction in 40-hour HAZWOPER, 10-hour OSHA construction industry safety and health training, 32-hour asbestos worker initial training class, 16-hour lead based paint worker initial training, soil and water sampling, pest management, confined spaces, and CPR.

Participants who complete the training will earn three state and three federal certifications. Training to Work an Industry Niche is targeting unemployed and underemployed residents of Charlotte, North Carolina. Key partners include Charlotte Housing Authority, the City of Charlotte Neighborhood and Business Services, City of Charlotte Engineering and Property Development, Environmental Staffing, Bergman Brothers Environmental Staffing, the Central Piedmont Community College, and the Women’s Business Center of Charlotte.

For over two decades, EPA’s EWDJT program has helped put people to work by building a skilled workforce across the country. The program awards competitive grants to nonprofit organizations and other eligible entities to recruit, train and place unemployed and underemployed individuals. Individuals completing the training have often overcome a variety of barriers to employment. Many are from low-income neighborhoods. The training programs also serve dislocated workers who have lost their jobs as a result of manufacturing plant closures, minorities, tribal members, transitioning veterans, ex-offenders and other individuals who may have faced barriers to employment.

Since 1998, when the EWDJT grant program started, more than 288 grants have been awarded. Over 17,100 individuals have completed training, and of those, more than 12,500 individuals have been placed in full-time employment earning an average starting wage of over $14 an hour. This equates to a cumulative job placement rate of 73 percent of graduates.

More information on environmental workforce development and job training grants: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/pilot_grants.htm

More information on EPA’s brownfields Program http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/

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