ADDITIONALLY THE FOLLOWING ARE CERTIFIED AS GREEN JOBS BY THE FEDERAL GOVERMENT: LEAD ABATEMENT ASBESTOS REMOVAL WEATHERIZATION MOLD REMOVAL BPI (Building Performance Institute) LEED CERTIFICATION DECONSTRUCTION MATERIAL REUSE (RECYCLING) FROM DEMOLITION You may be interested in being the trainee, then the trainer, if you feel competent and experienced.... here's a master list of GREEN COLLAR TRAINING PROGRAMS and CAREER PATHS compiled by the Chicagoland Green Collar Jobs InitiativePlease save the attached PDF to your computer. http://greencollarchicago.org/uploads/GreenCollarWorkforce.pdf You will find, Appendix B: Inventory of green collar training programs, very useful. "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink". L. Nieko Malcom -Carpenters Local 1 Women's Steering Committee Co-chair Please send photos, events, and news stories directly to my sistersinthebrotherhood@yahoo.com email address.
Contact Nieko: LNMALCOM@CRCCSIB.ORG sistersinthebrotherhood@yahoo.com 708-808-0SIB (0742)
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Tuesday, December 1, 2009
GREEN COLLAR TRAINING & CAREER PATHS
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Carpenters Union builds $15M training center in PA
Carpenters Union builds $15M training center along Airport corridor
The Greater PA Regional Council of Carpenters--the Carpenter Union--has invested $15 million of private funding into the future of itself and of building in the region.
"The construction industry is constantly changing its technology and building practices, and if we don't stay on the cutting edge of the changes, we'll fall behind the curve. We look at this new Training Center as our future," says Lou Gilberti with the union. "There are two ways to do business. You can either control or compete. As carpenters, we don't control, so we have to compete. And the only way to stay competitive is to train people in the best skills and attitudes."
The new center was built specifically for training carpenters. Currently, the union operates a training facility in the former high school on Neville Island. When the union realized it needed a bigger and better space, Gilberti says it decided to invest in constructing a new center from the ground-up on two acres next to its 42,000-square-foot headquarters off Route 22/30 near the new Settlers Ridge shopping center.
The union broke ground in September 2008, is finishing up construction now, and expects the facility to be fully occupied the second week of January.
The 93,000-square-foot, two-story space was is used for various fields of carpentry training, including commercial, residential, heavy highway, floor covering and cabinet making. It includes vehicular access on both floors and all-glass garage doors that let in tons of natural light. The first floor ceilings are about 22 feet high, and the second floor are about 32 feet.
"We have the capacity to build a two-story house inside the Training Center," says Gilberti.
The Training Center was designed by Astorino, and Mosites Construction Company served as general contractor.
The Carpenter Union currently has about 915 apprentices and 20 full-time instructors. Its graduation rate is more than 85 percent, which Gilberti says is higher than the national average.
Writer: Caralyn Green
Source: Lou Gilberti, council representative, Greater PA Regional Council of Carpenters
http://www.popcitymedia.com/devnews/carpenterunion111809.aspx
Monday, November 23, 2009
Are Minority Contractors getting contracts from the Stimulus Plan?
Are Minorities Being Shortchanged by the Stimulus?
Miami's poorer residents have long complained that the city's meager public-transit system makes it harder for them to get to work. So when the Obama Administration announced the $787 billion stimulus plan earlier this year, many hoped some of that money would help fund plans like an expansion of Miami's undersized Metrorail system — especially a 10-mile northern extension that would reach into predominantly African-American and other minority communities largely cut off from downtown and other employment centers. But the project, in part because it's not considered as shovel-ready as jobs like existing highway maintenance, isn't getting any of the $15 billion in stimulus aid for Florida, and has been shelved for the time being.
To Gihan Perera, that's just one example of how federal and state governments are missing a great opportunity to use the stimulus to aid the poor and minority communities hardest hit by the Great Recession. Perera, director of the nonprofit Miami Workers Center (MWC), is among a number of antipoverty activists closely examining which communities and contractors are getting stimulus dollars, and so far he says the picture doesn't look bright for already marginalized "low-opportunity" zones and minority-owned firms. The lion's share of road and other construction work in Florida has gone to venues like airports and new highways that usually benefit more affluent suburbs, Perera argues. And as of September, less than 10% of the $330 million in stimulus projects awarded directly from federal agencies to Florida-based contractors had gone to minority-owned firms, according to a study by the MWC, the Kirwan Institute at Ohio State University and the Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy (RISEP) at Miami's Florida International University. In all, black-owned firms received less than 2%. "The fear," says Perera, "is that the stimulus money could instead serve to exacerbate the inequalities that existed before."
That's not just a concern for the Sunshine State, which now has one of the nation's highest jobless and home-foreclosure rates. Earlier this year, the Associated Press found that across the U.S., the stimulus plan was "set to spend 50% more per person in areas with the lowest unemployment than it will in communities with the highest." In Illinois, President Obama's home state, a Chicago Public Radio investigation this fall found that less than 10% of the Department of Transportation's stimulus contracts had gone to "disadvantaged business enterprises," or DBEs, even though the state says it benchmarked almost a quarter of the dollars for those minority- and women-owned firms. Less than 2% of it had gone to black-owned businesses. Florida's Department of Transport doesn't have a specific DBE participation target for stimulus-related projects, but it says it exceeded its goal of more than 8% for all federally funded (not just stimulus) work in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. Still, given that Florida's workforce is about one-third minority, watchdogs like the MWC suggest the target should be higher.
Washington and the states have been trying to get stimulus money and projects out the door as quickly as possible, often bundling smaller projects into larger ones set to begin work immediately (so-called shovel-ready projects) for more efficiency. Consequently, they have also tended to rely on larger and therefore predominantly white-owned construction contractors (who in turn also tend to use their preferred subcontractors) over smaller minority-owned firms that often don't have ample equipment or personnel. Those smaller companies also have trouble finding the resources to post construction bonds (money contractors must offer up front as a guarantee that a job will be finished) on larger jobs. Serge Jean-Louis, a Haitian-American contractor and president of Nicon Engineering in Coconut Creek, Fla., near Fort Lauderdale, is struggling to land stimulus-related projects in South Florida. He says federal and state officials managing the stimulus should relax bond requirements for smaller firms and DBEs, "or we're going to be out of the stimulus picture."
The Obama Administration insists that 15% of the stimulus contracts awarded so far across the country have gone to DBEs. That's 2½ times the share of federally funded projects that went to minority- and women-owned firms in fiscal 2008, say officials. "It's a top priority of the President's, and we've worked very hard to create those opportunities," says David Hinson, director of the Commerce Department's Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA). Hinson points to the outreach program the MBDA and the Small Business Administration have created to "put boots on the ground" and make contract procurement easier for DBEs. He also suggests it's "a little early to draw conclusions" about the stimulus' level of minority participation.
Most of the federal stimulus money is disbursed via states and counties, and the outlook for minorities does seem better once the dollars reach more local levels. Miami-Dade County's Public Works Department has kept its so far $25 million worth of stimulus projects relatively small, and therefore more accessible to minority contractors, to ensure its own 10% DBE participation goal. On some projects Miami-Dade has even 100% DBE involvement. For now, the county is using what stimulus money it can earmark for transit purposes to purchase a fleet of BRT (bus rapid transit) buses that will at least reach into predominantly minority corridors at a faster clip than conventional metro bus lines. Says Miami-Dade Public Works Director Esther Calas, the stimulus trickle-down "wasn't really crafted to happen as fast as it could have, but once it gets to us we're expediting it quickly." She points out that Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez championed an ordinance last year that accelerates contracting processes related to any kind of economic-stimulus project.
Given such different track records, minority-business advocates like John Powell, director of the Kirwan Institute, which studies race and ethnicity issues, feel that additional stimulus billions should be pushed more directly to the local level, where it stands a better chance of boosting poor minority areas. "These communities see tons of money moving around, but they fear it's passing them by," says Powell, noting that many, if not most, U.S. municipalities don't yet know how to access stimulus funds for basic green projects like home weatherization and biofuel stations.
Powell thinks it's only fair that more stimulus money finds its way to minority communities, since much of today's economic disaster can be traced to those areas being lavished with subprime mortgages. Despite recovery.gov, the federal website designed for tracing stimulus outlays, Powell argues, "We need to put how this is playing out under a larger magnifying glass, make it more transparent." If not, he warns, "we'll have the irony of the first black President presiding over the greatest economic restructuring in decades, but it could actually end up worsening the racial disparity." Whether or not that's an exaggerated warning, heeding it could help Obama ensure that his recovery crusade is on a track that does the most long-term — and not just immediate — good.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1940338,00.html?xid=rss-topstories#ixzz0XkAarNR5
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
USGBC releases green jobs study
USGBC releases green jobs study results
Wed, Nov 11 2009 at 1:08 PM EST
Melissa Hincha-Ownby
Green building leads to green jobs. Today, the U.S. Green Building Council released the results of a green jobs study that examined the impact that the green building industry has on the nation’s economy and the growing green jobs movement. The report, prepared by Booz Allen Hamilton, determined that spending in the green construction industry helps to support over two million jobs and is responsible for more than $100 billion in GDP and wages.
As the green building trend continues to gain momentum, it is expected that the industry will help to support approximately eight million jobs by 2013. The report further breaks this down into jobs that are directly related to LEED spending. Since 2000, 15,000 jobs have been created thanks to LEED-related spending and nearly 230,000 more jobs should be created by 2013 as more green building projects look to the LEED rating systems for guidance.
So what types of jobs are being added as a direct result of spending on green construction projects? The report examined the impact that the green building industry has had on the following employment sectors:
- Nonresidential construction
- Residential construction
- Electric power generation, transmission, and distribution
- Water, sewage, and other waste treatment systems
- Waste management and remediation services
Many of the jobs that fall within these employment sectors directly impacted by the green building movement are attainable without an advanced degree. In nonresidential construction carpenters, construction laborers, truck drivers, and heavy-equipment operators are seeing employment opportunities on green construction projects.
One of the most important aspects of the growing green jobs movement is the need for good green jobs - jobs that will provide under and unemployed Americans a pathway out of poverty. The USGBC report estimates that the average annual salary for these positions listed above is just over $40,000.
This figure excludes positions like construction managers, civil engineers, and cost estimators, which all require an advanced degree. When factoring in these positions, the industry-wide average annual salary jumps to $52,200.
Between 2000 and 2008, green construction spending was responsible for 2.3 million jobs in nonresidential construction. This number is expected to jump to nearly 7.5 million jobs by 2013.
Although the green building movement is firmly rooted in the commercial industry, it is still gaining momentum in the residential sector. The USGBC Green Jobs Study predicts that there will be just over 460,000 jobs attributed to green building spending in the residential sector by 2013. This is up from the 143,000 jobs gained between 2000 and 2008.
In a time where the construction industry has been hard hit by the economic crisis, job growth in these sectors will be important in helping the nation recover from the recession.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Women are 70% of Do-It-Yourself Home Builders
Building a home yourself without swinging a hammer
written by: Jeffrey Wolf written by: Mark Koebrich
DENVER - If you've wanted a new home, but the tough economy is making that a tough proposition - there is a solution.
You should look into building it yourself. The process can save tens-of-thousands of dollars and you can do it even if you've never swung a hammer in your life.
Many people are currently giving it a try. Perhaps more surprisingly, about 70 percent of them are women. They become "general contractors" with the help of a "building coach."
A general contractor will typically take 15 to 20 percent of the cost of any project. If you do that job yourself, you can pocket a lot of cash, no matter how much of a home you want to build.
Some of the homes are breathtaking, even though the builders are largely people who previously had no experience in residential home construction.
Leslie Spees-Mcghee built her house and it's full of wonderful designer touches, such as open beamed ceilings, custom fit cabinets and cozy fireplaces. She also has a unique circular Tuscan staircase that cost her more than she anticipated.
"If you're building your own house, remember, curves are expensive," she said laughing.
Emily Brennan is currently building her dream home. It's a process she says has included a few teary breakdowns.
She discovered homebuilding is all about tight timelines, a process that can be overwhelming.
"You just want to cry and say, 'How am I going to get this all done?'" Brennan said.
It's not that either of the women ever drove a nail, or ran a saw through a sheet of particle board or lifted a section of wall into place. They acted as their own general contractor, the construction boss who organizes all of these activities.
It's a job they performed under the tutelage of Bob Hinz.
Hinz is the real deal: a true licensed general contractor who now sells his knowledge and expertise to do-it-yourselfers. He calls himself a building coach.
"By acting as a homebuilding coach, or as an assistant to the actual homebuilder, we're able to participate in an awful lot of homes at any given point in time. We've usually got 12,13 or 14 homes going at once," Hinz said.
That is how his company, HomeWrights, makes money. Hinz gets 5 percent of the construction cost.
"I love the 'creative chaos' that surrounds the building industry and this business allows us to participate in lots of projects at once, and be much closer to the owner's creative process," Hinz said.
He helps his clients every step of the way by hiring the electricians, the plumbers, the stone masons and bricklayers.
"Custom home building is a little bit science, a little bit art and a little bit magic. My industry gets pretty badly maligned sometimes, but there are a lot of great, honest, hardworking sons and daughters who work in this industry," Hinz said.
He makes sure the staircases are solid, the windows don't leak and the fireplaces are exactly what his student builder ordered.
Brennan ordered a two-sided fireplace.
"You can take a bath and have a fire," she said enthusiastically.
The savings are impressive. Brennan may pocket as much as 20 to 25 percent of her construction estimate of $840,000.
"We're totally under budget right now, which is great. We're really excited. But we have been able to get everything we wanted," Brennan said.
Spees-Mcghee's savings are comparable.
"We saved probably over $100,000 building it ourselves," she said.
Both women say they never had to worry about a complete collapse of any kind because Hinz was always there to save them.
"Thank goodness we have Bob to help us out. It's been great," Brennan said.
They all agree that it's a beautifully innovative solution in an ugly housing market.
The HomeWrights system can work with any size and value of home. They've even done some very nice, small starter homes. Hinz says the irony is that many folks who are interested in the 1,500-square-foot "starter" home want to build a true "custom" home, so they're often attracted to production homes.
Of course, production builders have a very strong cost structure, so they can deliver an 1,800-square-foot home for $100 per square foot.
The other thing that dictates a "typical" HomeWrights client is the cost of land in Colorado. Because our real estate is so expensive, most consumers who are truly interested in real custom homes are pretty well heeled.
To contact HomeWrights, you can call 303-756-8870 or visit www.homewrights.com.
It is possible to have a full time job and do this. Hinz says he's had quite a few clients who've been able to juggle both.
It requires discipline and some long days; usually the first 90 days are the worst because there is so much planning and thought and shopping that must go into the project.
HomeWrights isn't the only company that does this. Another is Direct Build in Parker (www.directbuildusa.com). U-Build-It was also active in the industry, but has been closing their Colorado locations (www.ubuildit.com/offices/colorado/index.html).
Hinz says both are very honorable and well operated businesses with good reputations. Hinz also says this is a very old fashioned way to build. Back in the 30s, Sears Roebuck sold kit homes from catalogues for anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 and they shipped to the home owner, who built his own home.
One final note: Hinz says he's starting to see some signs the bottom is behind us. Commodities like copper, aluminum, steel and cement are starting to slowly recover in price. Copper has gone up by as much as 10 percent in the last quarter. Lumber, plywood, and gypsum (sheet rock) are still soft, but starting to show signs that they are nearing bottom as well.
Hinz says for people who are waiting for the best time to jump back into the real estate market the perfect window may in fact be behind us. He says now is a very good time to build.
http://www.9news.com/money/consumer/article.aspx?storyid=125948&catid=103
Carpenters union opens trades college in Nova Scotia
The Carpenters Union of Mainland Nova Scotia has opened a private career college in Lower Sackville that will create more tradespeople for the construction industry to address a shortage of qualified workers.
"The carpenters union has trained its own members for many years and we thought we would like to take this training public in an effort to raise the standards of the industry," Peter Greer, vice-president of the Carpenter Millwright Trades College, said in an interview Tuesday.
Mr. Greer said the most productive and best qualified leaders in industry are moving toward retirement and "about 30 per cent of our workforce will be retired in 10 years and 50 per cent in 15 years."
He said there isn’t a lot of time to transfer the skills of the present generation to the younger workers moving into the industry.
The college, located at 1000 Sackville Dr., is offering an eight-week pre-employment course for people with no experience in the industry and two four-week elective courses in scaffold training and installing construction forms.
There are plans to also offer a drywall course, plus instruction in other industry-related trades.
The pre-employment course provides industry basics, such as how to use portable hand and power tools, how to do construction math, how to improve communications, how to get along with co-workers and how to receive instructions.
"These are basics, but we find these are skills a lot of people don’t have when they come into the industry," Mr. Greer said.
At the end of the eight-week program, students can take the four-week elective courses.
The college, certified by the provincial Education Department, has five certified instructors who have many years of on-the-job experience.
"We want to develop the college into the ‘come-to place’ for innovative, job-ready, skills-development training for Nova Scotia," Mr. Greer said.
"We don’t want to compete with the Nova Scotia Community College, but rather complement their training with ours."
The college also has plans to become a centre of excellence for safety, foreman training, productivity and communications training.
Mr. Greer said the 26,000-square-foot former church building is ideal for the college’s needs. A gymnasium has been converted into a wood shop and drywall lab and a scaffolding training area will be established outside.
"We like to replica industry as close as possible," he said.
The private college has the full support of the international union and is part of a North American program to have several training centres in Canada and the U.S. The union’s international training centre in Las Vegas supports the program.
The curriculum and programs are developed at the international centre and the local trade colleges refine them to meet local conditions.
"We want to deliver better craft value to the industry and raise the quality of the carpentry trade for all Nova Scotians through hands-on training," Mr. Greer said.
"As well as being a college, we intend to become a facility for conferences and discussion groups interested in improving our industry with the focus on skills improvement, construction site safety, quality control and career enhancement for all tradespeople in Nova Scotia."
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
U.S. Department of Labor awards contract to produce ‘A Woman’s Guide to Green Jobs’
News Release
WB News Release: [09/30/2009]
Contact Name: Lina Garcia
Phone Number: (202) 693-4661
Release Number: 09-1200-NAT
U.S. Department of Labor awards contract to produce ‘A Woman’s Guide to Green Jobs’
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Women's Bureau has awarded a $265,690 contract to Public Policy Associates Inc. in Lansing, Mich., which will partner with Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW), a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., in the development of a publication designed to increase women's access to high-growth and emerging industry occupations in the green jobs sector nationwide.
"Women are an important part of the nation's workforce, and there are many exciting opportunities for them in the emerging green jobs sector," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis.
Through both a hard copy publication and an online curriculum, "A Woman's Guide to Green Jobs" will provide women — who make up 47 percent of the total U.S. workforce — and employment professionals in general with information on hiring needs, training and entrepreneurship opportunities in green industries. National, state and local resources, including women's organizations and workforce practitioners, will be included. As part of this effort, the Women's Bureau will connect women with best practices and support services to facilitate their success in the workplace of the 21st century.
Public Policy Associates Inc. and WOW were selected through a competitive process. The Women's Bureau expects to release the new publication and accompanying curriculum in spring 2010.
SBA Launches New Online Training Course for Women Entrepreneurs
SBA Launches New Online Training Course: Winning Federal Contracts - A Guide for Women Entrepreneurs
WASHINGTON--(Business Wire)-- Women who own small businesses will be able to use a new online U.S. Small Business Administration training course to learn how to identify and take advantage of federal contracting opportunities. The new training course, Winning Federal Contracts: A Guide for Women Entrepreneurs, is part of an ongoing government-wide initiative to promote opportunities for women-owned businesses in the area of government contracting.
This free online tutorial is a practical and easy to use guide that walks a woman-owned small business through the contracting process. SBA is committed to ensuring that women-owned businesses receive at least 5 percent of federal contracts and believes better training opportunities are central to meeting this government-wide goal.
"Federal contracts can provide unique opportunities for women entrepreneurs and small business owners to grow their businesses and create jobs, particularly during these tough economic times," Administrator Karen Mills said. "It`s also a win for federal agencies, by contracting with women-owned small businesses; they are working with some of the most innovative and dynamic companies in the country."
The SBA`s Office of Women`s Business Ownership oversees a national network of more than 100 Women`s Business Centers (WBCs) that provide education and training to help women start and grow small businesses. In addition, the SBA has 68 district offices and other resource partners throughout the country available to train and counsel women-owned small businesses and entrepreneurs seeking government contracts.
"This online training course makes critical information and training available to an even wider array of women entrepreneurs and small business owners," said Ana Harvey, assistant administrator for SBA`s Office of Women`s Business Ownership. "SBA wants to help ensure they have the tools and resources they need to compete for and win federal contracts."
The Winning Federal Contracts course is designed to help women entrepreneurs learn about the federal procurement process and to prepare them to compete for contracting opportunities. The self-paced guide uses audio and script to provide information about contract rules, how to sell to the government and where to find contracts.
The Winning Federal Contracts course is available on SBA`s Web site at www.sba.gov or directly at www.sba.gov/fedcontractingtraining. It is indexed by subject matter, and includes direct links to additional contracting resources.
Release Number: 09-71 U.S. Small Business Administration Cecelia Taylor, 202-401-3059 Internet Address: http://www.sba.gov/news
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS151739+14-Oct-2009+BW20091014
Chicago Turner School of Construction Management Graduates 58 Women and Minorities
Turner School of Construction Management Graduates 58 Chicago Area Minority and Women-Owned Businesses
October 14, 2009
Turner Construction Company, together with the City of Chicago, the Exelon Corporation, The University of Chicago, Roosevelt University’s Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate and the Federation of Women Contractors has awarded certificates of completion to 58 individuals representing minority and woman-owned business enterprises (MWBEs) , marking the conclusion of the 21st Turner School of Construction Management in the greater Chicago area.
The free, seven-week training program has been a key resource in Chicago for more than 1,000 MWBE business owners over the last 20 years. The program provides insightful and meaningful tools to local woman-and minority-owned businesses, while offering them an opportunity to develop strategic business skills.
The Turner School of Construction Management is designed to enhance the technical, administrative and managerial skills of leaders within these businesses to help them most effectively manage projects and ultimately build their reputations so that they are able to successfully compete in the construction market.“Helping develop greater capacity in the MWBE building community makes good business sense as well as aligning with Turner values and long-history of helping to expand the skills of minority, women, disadvantaged and small-business enterprises,” said Stephen Fort, Vice President and General Manager of Turner’s Chicago operations.
Participants learn the essentials of managing a business, including how to develop a business plan, estimate and bid on a job, obtain bonding, enforce safety principles and establish and manage credit, in order to become better equipped to compete for progressively larger and more complicated contracts. One goal of the program is to develop a pool of minority contractors with the necessary skills to perform work on future Turner projects. Attendees also have the opportunity to network with peers, instructors and others in the construction industry during the training program.
“After graduating from this course, I have gained valuable insight and a new perspective about general contractors and subcontractors, the challenges they face and the way we can more effectively partner with them to benefit the client,” stated Sharon Jaenel, President, PeopleSpace, Ltd.
Wendy Ryce-Smith, President of Ryce Restoration, Inc. stated, “This course has helped Ryce Restoration improve how we plan, bid, estimate, operate, manage risk and partner with general contractors to grow our business.”
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