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Workforce Partnerships › Phase II Workforce Partnerships

Emergency Medical Careers Partnership (EMCP)
Lead Agency: Northeastern University, College of Professional Studies

The Emergency Medical Careers Partnership (EMCP) seeks to address the employment needs of the emergency medical services industry in greater Boston, while providing new opportunities for low-skilled individuals to move into medium-skilled, higher paying jobs. The EMCP seeks to meet current and projected vacancies for chair car drivers, EMTs, and paramedics and to accomplish two goals:

1. Build a new pipeline of workers from community-based GED programs
2. Provide incumbent workers with opportunities to advance up the EMT/Paramedic career ladder through training and credentialing.

The EMCP will provide support services, peer-to-peer learning, clinical and experiential activities, mentoring, and career coaching in addition to support participants in completing the curriculum. In addition, the partnership will utilize hybrid and online learning methods and will involve employers in the updating and re-design of curriculum modules. Finally, the partnership will support community-based GED providers to link their curriculum with college-level standards and will dual-enroll students in the EMT-basic program.

The EMCP plans to serve 75 participants over four years. This partnership is not currently enrolling new participants.

Key partners include: X-Cel, Inc; the Dimock Center; Boston EMS; Cataldo Ambulance; the Massachusetts Ambulance Association; and the Boston Private Industry Council

Healthcare Training Institute (HTI)
Lead Agency: JVS

HTI will provide a continuum of career advancement services—workplace education, college transition, coaching and student support, pre-employment training and placement—and allied health and nursing pathways with major healthcare employers.

Key goals are to: 1) help low-income workers and community residents improve their skills, enter college, and fill vacancies in high-demand occupations offering family-sustainin wages; and 2) institutionalize relationships with colleges that will enable continued skill development and career advancement.

HTI plans to serve 410 participants over five years.

HTI’s partners include: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Children’s Hospital; Hebrew Senior Life; Marina Bay; Bay Cove Human Services; Massachusetts General Hospital; Bunker Hill Community College; and Mass. Bay Community College.

Hotel Training Center (HTC)
Lead Agency: BEST Corp (Boston Education, Skills & Training Corp.)

The Hotel Training Center (HTC) provides skills training and job placement services for under employed and unemployed individuals seeking entry to the hospitality industry and incumbent workers seeking skills upgrades or advancement within the industry.

With SkillWorks funding, HTC will increase its training capacity, add individualized career counseling services, and enhance educational offerings to satisfy the critical demand for well-trained employees in the growing Boston hotel and food service sector. In particular, HTC will build out its pre-GED, GED and post-secondary preparation programs for workers.

Participants who graduate from the pre-employment training program will start at positions paying at least $15.23/hour. Incumbent workers will train for advancement in culinary, food service, and guest service positions paying $40,000 to $70,000 annually.

HTC plans to serve 532 participants over five years.

Key partners include: UNITE HERE Local 26; Greater Boston Hotel Employer Local 26 Trust Funds; Starwood Hotels and Resorts; the Copley Square Hotel; the Omni Parker House; the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts; Project Place; Julie’s Family Learning Program; and the Boston Private Industry Council.

Read MA Worker Education Roundtable Article

Year Up Financial Services Partnership
Lead Agency: Year Up

Year Up’s core program prepares young adults to launch livable wage careers and begin the journey to a post-secondary credential through a one-year, intensive pre-employment program. In 2009, Year Up received a SkillWorks planning grant, to develop a strategy for helping participants complete at least one year of post-secondary education and for helping participants access career advancement pathways in the financial services industry. Year Up received an implementation grant in January 2010 and plans to enroll and serve 475 participants over the next four years, helping young people develop careers in the financial services industry.

Key partners include Cambridge College, State Street Corporation, and Bank of America.

Green Jobs Initiative Grantees

Partnership for Automotive Career Education (PACE)

Lead Agency: Asian American Civic Association (AACA)

Partnership for Automotive Career Education (PACE) is an education, training, and employment project for entry-level automotive technicians. PACE provides an education and training pipeline customized to the automotive industry, recruits and screens participants, and provides English language and basic math education customized to the automotive industry; hands-on automotive training for employer identified entry-level skills; job readiness skills; computer literacy; and career counseling, case management, job placement, and retention services.

In 2011, AACA received a SkillWorks grant to add an expanded hybrid and alternative fuel vehicle component to PACE and train 70 people over the next three years. This was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor's Green Jobs Innovation Fund through Jobs For the Future (JFF).

Key partners include: Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology, Boston Public Schools Department of Adult Education and Community Services, Sullivan Tire, Direct Tire and Auto Service.

Green Construction Program

Lead Agency: YouthBuild Boston

The YouthBuild Boston (YBB) Green Construction Program offers vocational and academic training for disconnected young adults (18-24 years old) and provides access to employment opportunities in the building trades. The SkillWorks grant supports the hire of a Vocational Education Instructor to teach green building techniques in areas such as weatherization, water conservation, green roofing, facilities maintenance, and LEED building practices. During the grant period, YBB will train 45 participants over 3 cohorts.

Key partners include: Boston Housing Authority, City of Boston Residents Jobs Policy Office, Laborers' International Union of North America, NERCC, Next Step Living, Advantage Weatherization, Shawmut Design & Construction, and Suffolk Construction.

In early 2011, SkillWorks awarded funding to support the creation of pathways in green manufacturing, hazardous waste management, recycling and deconstruction industries:

GreenSTREAM: Sustainable Training Resources for Environmentally Advanced Manufacturing

Lead Agency: Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD)

ABCD received a grant to implement their GreenSTREAM training program. GreenSTREAM will provide Boston residents with work-readiness training; Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) remediation; on-the-job skill development; and certification opportunities.

Key partners include: Roxbury Technology Corporation, Save that Stuff, Inc., and MassCOSH

JFYNetWorks - Planning Grant

JFYNetWorks will develop a career pathway in hazardous waste management for low-income, lower-skilled workers. JFYNetWorks will deepen and expand partnerships with employer and specialized trainers and produce a curriculum specifically on a hazardous waste management track.

Key partners include: Resource Options, Inc., Aerotek, Triumvirate Environmental, The New England Consortium, and the Institute for Environmental Education

Operation A.B.L.E. of Greater Boston - Planning Grant

Operation A.B.L.E. will build upon the ABLE Weatherization and Energy Auditing Training Program (WEAT) and develop an Energy Efficiency Administrative Support Skills training program. Operation A.B.L.E. will engage sector employers, develop curriculum, and identify the necessary credentials and certifications.

Key partners include: Next Step Living, ICF International, Sustainable Construction, HeatSpring, and Everblue Training Institute

Environmental Business Council (EBC) - Research Contract

EBC will produce and disseminate a report on the workforce needs of the recycling and deconstruction industries in Massachusetts. The study will include a description of the skills, competencies, and training needs for job titles such as crew chief, crew member, and coordinator.

In the spring of 2010, training grants were awarded to two organizations to implement their green job training programs:

Energy Efficiency Technician Apprenticeship Program (EETAP)

Lead Agency: Asian American Civic Association (AACA)

Energy Efficiency Technicians combine the skills of an energy auditor with the basic skills of a weatherization worker. EETAP will target low-come, minority, immigrant/bilingual, unemployed and underemployed residents of Metro Boston.

Services provided to participants will include case management, career coaching, pre-vocational English, on the job training, and classroom instruction. Through a unique arrangement of the apprenticeship program, participants will be working at partner employers and earning wages throughout the entire training program.

Key partners include: Clean and Smart, LLC, OSHA-Braintree Area Office, Conservation Services Group, and Next Step Living.

Chinatown Green Collar Career Pathways Program

Lead Agency: Chinese Progressive Association (CPA)

The Chinatown Program seeks to prepare limited English proficiency workers from Chinatown and the Boston area for weatherization jobs at a living wage with long-term union career pathway.

CPA is a member of the Green Justice Coalition, which recently influenced the state's and the utilities' new $1.4 billion plan to expand energy efficiency programs across the Commonwealth. The utilities committed to creating several weatherization community mobilization pilots around the state of which will utilize a unique model linking the bundling of weatherization work with the training and hiring of local residents. The Chinatown Program is the first of these pilots.

Key partners include: International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 35 and the Aulson Company.

Contact:
Mark Liu, Green Justice Coordinator, CPA [email protected]
617-357-4499
www.cpaboston.org

In 2009, energy efficiency/weatherization workforce partnership planning grants were awarded to four organizations leading planning processes and with proven workforce development track records:

• Asian American Civic Association (AACA) for their green facilities maintenance program (BEEMS);
• JFYNetWorks for a project to expand access to weatherization training and jobs for low-income/public housing residents in Chelsea;
• Massachusetts Association for Community Action (MASSCAP) to develop a regional training partnership with CAP agencies in Boston, Quincy, and Southern Middlesex County; and
• Urban League of Eastern MA (ULEM) to develop their solar/photovoltaic installation training program.

Partnerships Navigation

• Emergency Medical Careers Partnership (EMCP)
  
• Healthcare Training Institute (HTI)
  
• Hotel Training Center (HTC)
  
• Year Up Financial Services Partnership
  
• Green Grantees