Green Collar Training Center

About the Program

Category: Personnel Management, Employment and Training (Best in Category)

Year: 2011

In early 2009, St. Lucie county Commissioners began to tackle the high unemployment rate, which was in the 15 percent range at the time, by looking at ways to create jobs and retrain the area workforce, particularly in the construction industry. Starting in 2007, the county began to experience the collapse of the housing market, which was one of St. Lucie County’s primary economic engines. In an effort to restart the construction economy in St. Lucie County, the Board of County Commissioners created a partnership with Workforce Solutions and eight other trade//construction union groups to build the area’s first Green collar Training Center. The green Collar task Force is a unique partnership of local government and various non-profit program established to meet the demands of existing and new emerging clean energy technologies currently developing within the treasure Cost and United States. This 12,500-suware –foot facility is designed to retrain the workforce to compete for jobs In the emerging green technologies field, such as photovoltaic installation. The concept would be a training center and apprenticeship program where those enrolled in the classes would also be able to work as an apprentice in one of the eight different trade associations. Students could even receive the classroom education at no cost and pay back the tuition once an apprentice job was secured.