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BOSTON - Monday, February 13, 2023 - Today,
PowerCorpsBOS joined A Better City and Roxbury Community College (RCC) for
an orientation event to receive an overview of the newest PowerCorps
building operations career pathway, skills to support the transition to
energy efficiency and carbon reduction in Boston buildings. This program is
a partnership between PowerCorpsBOS, Roxbury Community College’s Center for
Smart BuildingTechnology and A Better City (ABC). Program participants will
study at RCC’s Center for Smart Building Technology and receive in-service
learning opportunities within large buildings coordinated by A Better City.
“Creating career pathways through
skills and job training is essential to growing our green workforce,
especially as we work to transition more buildings to renewable, efficient
energy,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “I’m grateful to our partners
for working with us and the students participating for their commitment to
helping lay the foundation for a clean, green future.”
PowerCorpsBos works to train residents for
green jobs after program completion, while focusing on career pathways into
jobs that work to mitigate climate change to protect the environment. The
first PowerCorps cohort graduated in December. All of the 21 program
graduates either have a new green job or are enrolled in additional
training. An ‘earn and learn’ program, PowerCorpsBos pays members to
participate in hands-on training and provides them with career readiness
support, and connections to employers in the green industry. PowerCorpsBOS
is a partnership that is led by the Worker Empowerment Cabinet and the
Environment Department, in collaboration with Community Safety, Office of
Youth Employment and Opportunity, and Boston Centers for Youth &
Families. The goals of PowerCorpsBOS are to promote workforce development
for young people in growing industries while supporting environmental stewardship.
“The core mission of PowerCorpsBos is to
create pathways to earn a livable wage while also helping to care for the
environment,” said Davo Jefferson, Executive Director of
PowerCorpsBos. “We are grateful to partner with RCC and ABC to ensure
PowerCorps graduates are able to move directly into careers in the green
building industry.”
“In Boston, 70 percent of our greenhouse gas
emissions come from the building sector,” said Reverend Mariama
White-Hammond, Chief of Environment, Energy and Open Space. “By
creating a building operations career pathway through PowerCorps, these
graduates are preparing for high quality careers which will support our
carbon neutrality goals.”
“Congratulations to PowerCorpsBOS for
creating this innovative partnership with Roxbury Community College and A
Better City,” said Trinh Nguyen, Chief of Worker Empowerment.
“Expanding opportunities for sustainable jobs at living wages is part of
the City and Worker Empowerment’s mission and we look forward to
facilitating this new pathway.”
The building operations pathway is training
for jobs that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in large buildings by
teaching participants skills to maintain building operations at peak
efficiency. The curriculum is being offered by RCC’s Center for Smart
Building Technology in their state of the art lab and includes topics
ranging from conducting energy audits to maintaining electrical, HVAC and
plumbing systems. Participants will learn on the job with the goal of
transitioning to an employee at the end of the six month training program.
A Better City has supported this partnership
by working with member businesses and institutions to establish in-service
learning opportunities in Boston-based large buildings. Participating
organizations include the City of Boston, Beacon Capital Partners and their
building operator partner, NEWMARK, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, C&W
Services, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston,
JLL, and MassGeneral Hospital. A Better City's work has been made possible
by support from the Linde Family Foundation and the Barr Foundation.
The inaugural PowerCorps cohort were trained
in urban forestry. The 21 graduates assisted 87 acres of public land,
removed 284 bags of invasive material, worked with 18 service project
partners, planted 61 trees, underwent 16 hours of tree climbing training,
earned three college credits from UMass Mount Ida in Arboriculture, talked
to 68 employees in private to public industry, worked with four different
City departments, pruned 32 trees, attended International Society of
Arboriculture New England chapter conference, participated in 12 hours of
mock interviews, and completed 16 hours of financial literacy courses.
Graduates worked with Boston Housing Authority and UMass Mount Ida Campus
to learn skills like tree protection, including pruning, felling, limbing,
and bucking.
The City of Boston’s green jobs program is
inspired by the Philadelphia
PowerCorpsPHL model
that builds opportunities for young people by tackling pressing
environmental challenges and developing the skills required to secure
meaningful work. The priority of PowerCorpsBOS is to create equitable and
inclusive workforce pipelines into green jobs for historically marginalized
young people. Priority populations include returning citizens,
court-involved residents, youth who have experienced homelessness or
housing instability, and young people who have been in foster care. In
Boston, the program is designed with “earn and learn” practices to ensure
that members enter and succeed in career green job pathways. Members go
through specifically tailored phases, in a field of their choosing, that
embed service and equity, as well as direct connections to job openings.
The program also offers connections to continuing education opportunities,
including through the City’s Tuition Free
Community College program. Not only current PowerCorps members, but also
their families and alumni who are Boston residents, are eligible for TFCC.
"This partnership is not only a
wonderful opportunity but essential to diversify the industry and create
economic self-sufficiency for our community members,” said RCC
Interim President Jackie Jenkins-Scott. “RCC is proud to offer both
workforce and degree programs in Smart Building Technology, ensuring Boston
residents are leaders in this growing field.”
"Public private partnerships are a
vital strategy for building a green and growing city for everyone,”
said Yve Torrie, Director of Climate, Energy & Resilience at A
Better City. “This PowerCorpsBOS partnership is poised to enhance our
City’s economic health and competitiveness, while promoting equitable
growth for the in-demand jobs of today and tomorrow. We are immensely
grateful to the City of Boston for their vision, to RCC for their
curriculum expertise, and to the participating A Better City member
companies and institutions for stepping up to provide real-world training
and employment opportunities.”
“We are thrilled to support the City of
Boston’s program to build and train a workforce that will run the energy
efficient buildings of the future,” said Jim Tierney, JLL New
England Market Director and A Better City Board Chair. “A Better City
member companies are providing state-of-the-art buildings as a training
opportunity for hands-on experience in building operations. These buildings
showcase the latest in technology and sustainability preparing trainees for
the jobs of the future.”
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