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News Releases from Region 05

EPA Awards $200,000 Grant to Indianapolis’ RecycleForce to Train Local Students for Environmental Jobs

Grant part of $5.1 Million awarded nationwide

10/24/2019
Contact Information: 
Francisco Arcaute (arcaute.francisco@epa.gov)
312-886-7613

For Immediate Release No. 19-OPA86

INDIANAPOLIS (October 24, 2019) - Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded $200,000 to the Indianapolis, Indiana-based RecycleForce to train students in environmental jobs. RecycleForce will use the funds to train 38 students and place at least 29 of the graduates in environmental jobs. RecycleForce is one of 26 organizations to receive a total of $5.1 million in grants for environmental job training programs across the country.

“EPA’s Job Training Program has helped to transform communities that need it the most. By investing in a local workforce to conduct environmental cleanup activities, we can help revitalize traditionally low-income neighborhoods,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Seventy five percent of those trained under our program have gone on to find full time jobs with good wages. I am proud to announce that EPA is building on these successes by providing additional grants to help lift communities out of poverty, employ returning veterans, and build a skilled environmental workforce for the future.”

“RecycleForce will provide residents with valuable skills they can use to pursue a promising new career path,” said EPA Region 5 Administrator Cathy Stepp. “Rather than seeing local jobs filled by contractors from distant cities, EPA’s job-training grants give residents an opportunity to gain the skills and certifications needed to secure local environmental work.”

“RecycleForce has a long history of helping incarcerated citizens successfully return to the community by providing employment, training, and training-related job placement,” said Rhonda Shipley, Project Manager, RecycleForce. “Grant funding from EPA allows us to provide the opportunity to earn industry-recognized credentials to a greater number of returning citizens. These credentials provide not only an entry point into the competitive job market, but also allow returning citizens to secure living wage employment.”

Based in Indianapolis, RecycleForce offers workforce training and job placement to formally incarcerated men and women. Participating students will receive over 200 hours of classroom and practical application training in hazardous waste operations, emergency response, and related environmental job skills. Graduates of the training program will have an opportunity to earn at least 18 certifications.

EPA’s successful Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Program helps to create a skilled workforce in communities where EPA brownfields assessment and cleanup activities are taking place.

Of the programs selected for funding this year, 31% plan to serve residents of communities experiencing persistent poverty and nearly 70% plan to serve veterans. All 26 selected programs plan to serve communities with census tracts designated as federal Opportunity Zones – an economically-distressed community where new investments, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment.

Since this program began in 1998, more than 288 grants have been awarded. More than 18,000 individuals have completed training, and of those, more than 13,679 individuals have been placed in full-time employment earning an average starting wage of over $14 an hour. EPA created its environmental job training program to offer residents of communities historically affected by environmental pollution, economic disinvestment, and brownfields an opportunity to gain the skills and certifications needed to secure local environmental work in their communities. 

Background 

EPA’s Job Training Program awards competitive grants to nonprofit organizations and other eligible entities to recruit, train, and place unemployed and underemployed individuals. Individuals completing these training programs have often overcome a variety of barriers to employment. Many are from low-income neighborhoods. The training programs also serves minorities, tribal members, transitioning veterans, displaced workers who have lost their jobs as a result of manufacturing plant closures, and other individuals who may face barriers to employment.

For more information on the job training grantees, including past grantees, please visit: https://cfpub.epa.gov/bf_factsheets/index.cfm?grant_type_id=1003&grant_announcement_year=2018

For more information on this, and other types of Brownfields grants, please visit: https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/brownfields/types-brownfields-grant-funding

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