Transcript:

Investments in clean energy and energy efficiency are creating jobs for electricians, plumbers, builders, and other skilled workers.

So to help ensure people from underserved communities have pathways into clean energy careers, Illinois created the Climate Works Pre-Apprenticeship Program.

The paid program provides an introduction to the building trades, helps trainees get workplace safety certifications, and offers job site tours.

And participants who face barriers accessing the training can receive extra financial help.

Hampton: “To ensure … that they have access to transportation, they have access to child care, they have access to mental health supports, even housing.”

Chynna Hampton is with Climate Jobs Illinois, a coalition of labor unions advocating for clean energy jobs with strong worker protections.

Her group helps connect program graduates with union apprenticeships.

Hampton: “We’ll provide a referral to them where we’re capitalizing off of our relationships with a lot of the local unions and then letting them know like, ‘Hey, we’ve got great candidates.’ … And we’ve had a lot of folks that have been able to gain placement.”

She says that leads to secure, well-paying careers as union electricians, plumbers, pipe fitters, and more.

So she says they are helping to build a strong and diverse clean energy workforce.

Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media. Thanks to the Midwest Climate Resilience Conference for logistical support.