Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Boston to get green industry job training boost

By Maria Uminski, MHT Editorial Intern

Nonprofit organization Jobs for the Future (JFF) is looking to expand job training for workers in seven major cities, including Boston, with green sector training, known as The GreenWay Initiative Project, and it’s got $8 million to support the effort.

GreenWay Initiative Project’s green training will train workers for green jobs in four industry sectors: green construction, auto technology, manufacturing, and utilities.

The initiative is funded by an $8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) through the Green Jobs Innovation Fund, which was authorized under the Workforce Investment Act to train workers in green industry sectors. JFF will distribute over $6 million across the country to the participating cities, which are Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

Boston is receiving an $860,000 grant from the initiative to train higher skilled automotive specialty technicians (ASTs), mainly hybrid technicians because of the growing local sales of hybrid-electric vehicles. With 750 current openings in late March for ASTs, along with serious concern among employers about replacing their aging workforce, the GreenWay Initiative is looking to train new workers to fill those voids.

JFF confirmed – after talking with Sullivan Tire, Jiffy Lube and Herb Chambers Honda conducted by the Partnership for Automotive Career Education (PACE) – the need for ASTs, predominantly with a knowledge of Hybrid technology, as well as bilingual technicians.