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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Program Works to Bring 'Green' Construction Jobs to Wisconsin

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Monday, August 22, 2022   

The Wisconsin Latino community has been inundated with job opportunities in the "green" economy thanks to a new pilot program.

Elevate, a climate-change equity nonprofit, has partnered with the Latino Academy of Workforce Development to help minority construction workers develop relationships within the climate-change economy.

The Contractor Accelerator helps electricians get certifications to install solar panels, or workers to install heating and cooling systems that aren't reliant on fossil fuels.

Baltazar De Anda Santana, co-founder and executive director of the Latino Academy, said there's been a disconnect between minority communities and the green-energy economy.

"They were not part of that green energy conversation," said De Anda Santana. "Not because they didn't want to be, but because they didn't know how to get closer to that conversation. One participant, when we were talking about how to access contracts, or how to get some of the certifications, the person said, 'I didn't know that we could do that.'"

Given this is a pilot program, he said he is hoping to bring it back in the future, with some alterations. He said he wants to make a more permanent version available with added business training for a green-energy workforce.

He said the group is eyeing several grants to keep the program alive.

Elevate will also evaluate whether changes need to be made, although the program has proven highly effective.

Melissa Gombar - Elevate's director of workforce development - said a similar program in Chicago has seen businesses take off and grow as a result, and the number of diverse contractors grow too.

She explained that it's good to hear firsthand about the challenges from minority-owned businesses in this field.

"They came in to talk to the program participants about their journey," said Gombar, "what to do or not to do, give kind of like inside tips and tools of the trade, because those things aren't made explicit. It's like a hidden culture of how to break into the construction industry."

Other accelerator programs have helped workers in Michigan, Missouri and Oregon. Gombar added that as the effects of climate change grow, jobs in this sector of the construction economy will increase at a faster rate and should lead to more lucrative opportunities.



Disclosure: Elevate contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Energy Policy, Environmental Justice, Water. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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