Fiscal Note
The 2014 adopted Operating Budget of the Community Development Division (CDD) / CDBG Office authorizes expenditures of $125,000 in City levy funds for the apprenticeship program described herein. No additional appropriation is required.
Title
Approving the selection of Construction Training, Inc. and its collaborative partners to provide services in support of an apprenticeship program to help prepare low-income and disadvantaged persons for employment in the trades, and authorizing the Mayor and the City Clerk to enter into an agreement with Construction Training, Inc. to implement the program.
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WHEREAS, the City of Madison, through its Community Development Division, currently invests approximately $475,000 in Adult Workforce Training and Employment Development activities and approximately 15% of that funding supports programming designed to increase access to training in the construction trades for individuals in poverty; and
WHEREAS, skilled workers in the construction industry and the trades can command good, family supporting wages; and
WHEREAS, in the City of Madison and Dane County, the demand for skilled workers in the construction trades far exceeds the number of people who possess such skills and there are significant development projects looming that will require additional skilled workers; and
WHEREAS, there is a disproportionately low representation of women and people of color in the local construction and trades workforce; and
WHEREAS, the development of trade skills and subsequent procurement of employment is often achieved through participation in an apprenticeship program; and
WHEREAS, local trade union apprenticeship programs have reported that approximately 50% of persons that enter apprenticeship programs leave these programs within their first year and that approximately 70% of those leaving are women and people of color; and
WHEREAS, the Mayor's recent Employment Initiative identified the need for pre-employment education and training to help underrepresented individuals in need of employment qualify for family supporting jobs in the industrial and construction sectors; and
WHEREAS, the Mayor and Common Council allocated $125,000 for a project aimed at helping prepare low income and disadvantaged persons for employment in the trades, with a particular emphasis on helping ensure proportional participation by women and persons of color who have been historically underrepresented in the trades; and
WHEREAS, the Community Development Division issued a request for proposals (RFP) seeking a collaborative approach among employment training and service providers that would serve to increase the numbers of women and people of color prepared to work in the trades, more effectively connect them to private sector employers that need their skills, and help them overcome common obstacles that often prevent successful employment experiences; and
WHEREAS, upon review of the responses to this RFP, a review panel has recommended awarding up to $125,000 to Construction Training, Inc. and five designated collaborative sub-grantees (Urban League of Greater Madison, Operation Fresh Start, Workforce Development Board of South Central Wisconsin, YWCA Construct-U and the Latino Academy for Workforce Development) to undertake the activities described in the RFP.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Mayor and the Common Council approve the selection of Construction Training Inc. and the sub-grantees identified in its proposal to provide the designated services; and;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Common Council authorizes the Mayor and the City Clerk to enter into a contract with these organizations, as required, to perform the desired services.