FORT PIERCE - St. Lucie County's Green Collar Task Force got a little 'greener' this week, thanks to a $500,000 state grant.
St. Lucie County and Workforce Solutions applied for and received the $500,000 in grant through the Business Competitiveness Council of Workforce Florida, Inc.'s WINGS (Workforce Innovative New Generations Solutions) program. The funds will be used for apprenticeship programs that focus on labor opportunities for St. Lucie County's green building projects, including energy efficiency, the reduction of pollution, retrofitting, protection of natural resources, and utilization of renewable power sources.
Roger Hudspeth II, chairman of The Green Collar Task Force as well as the West Palm Beach Sheet Metal Joint Apprenticeship Committee, is enthusiastic and extremely grateful to have had this developing apprenticeship training facility for St. Lucie County awarded the WINGS grant.
"To have been chosen from the many qualified applicants for this grant is quite humbling," said Hudspeth II. "Only through the cooperative efforts and dedicated commitment to our fundamental mission through our partnership with St. Lucie County's administrative staff as well as Workforce Solutions were we able to meet the requirements for the grant to sustain a strong foundation for our training facility.
"This unique opportunity for funding relieves a huge burden off of our minds so that we can now focus on our fundamental mission to provide new apprenticeship training throughout various participating building trade crafts, but also develop the essential continual education opportunities needed to keep up with new and emerging technologies for clean energy sources," added Hudspeth II.
The St. Lucie County Green Collar Task Force, often referred to as the Green Collar Job Apprenticeship Initiative Consortium, is a collaboration of representatives from the St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners, Workforce Solutions-Region 20, and a consortium of five trade unions, including: Insulators Local Union No. 60, FL Carpenters Regional Council Training, Iron Workers Local Union No. 402, Painters & Allied Trades District Council No. 78 and the West Palm Beach Sheet Metal Local JATC Union No. 32.
"Our partnership with St. Lucie County and the Green Collar Jobs Consortium for an apprenticeship training program for the new green construction economy is unique and exciting. We are looking forward to working with the partners to train new workers and upgrade the skills of our existing construction workforce," said President/CEO of Workforce Solutions Gwenda Thompson.
Spearheaded by St. Lucie County Commissioner Doug Coward, this group came together to address the needs of training new and employed workers to meet the building and retrofitting construction demands of a growing green economy within the Treasure Coast (including Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, and Okeechobee Counties).
"We are extremely excited about this news and anxious to open the new facility," said Commissioner Coward.
The $500,000 grant will fund staff to coordinate the program across the Research Coast and recruit trainees to the project, a Career Planner to provide counseling and support for trainees, a community-awareness campaign, instructional materials and supplies, as well as training incentives to employers hiring apprentices from the program.
The Green Collar Task Force will utilize space inside St. Lucie County's Logistics Center located on U.S. 1 in Fort Pierce as its training facility. The instructors will be provided by the trade unions and the overall administrative management and worker recruitment will be done by Workforce Solutions. The apprenticeship program is expected to be in place by early 2010 with the goal of enrolling 100 workers in the first six months of operations.