City of Rochester
News Release
(Friday, May 12, 2017) – Mayor Lovely A. Warren and City Council President Loretta C. Scott hosted a graduation ceremony today for the inaugural class of the City’s Rochester Environmental Job (REJob) Training Program, which provided 29 unemployed and underemployed city residents with the training to find work in the environmental construction industry.
All 29 of the program participants now have jobs waiting for them in the environmental construction industry.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded the City of Rochester a $200,000 Brownfield Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training grant to establish the REJob training program.
“I want to congratulate and thank the program participants who stuck with this program and completed this intensive training,” Mayor Warren said. “You are now on your way to successful careers in environmental remediation and construction. Giving our citizens the skills they need to earn a living in a growing industry while also preparing contaminated properties in our neighborhoods for future investment will greatly enhance our efforts to create more jobs, safer more vibrant neighborhoods and better educational opportunities in our schools.”
“I want to personally congratulate all of the members who are graduating from the REJob Training Program, each of them has committed a tremendous amount of time to going through this rigorous and incredibly effective program,” said City Council President Scott. “For me, it’s about jobs. We need to link Rochester residents with good jobs that pay a living wage and the REJob program is exactly the type of initiative that we need.”
U.S. Senator Charles Schumer said, “Congratulations to all of the REJob graduates. This innovative program by the City of Rochester is a win-win investment of this federal EPA job training grant. Not only are local residents gaining new skills to enter new careers, the region is gaining a ready workforce to mitigate environmental hazards and return brownfields into shovel-ready sites for new development.”
“I offer my heartfelt congratulations to the inaugural class of the Rochester Environmental Job Training program,” said U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. “This job training program helped prepare 29 students on the path to good-paying jobs in a growing industry. The skills these men and women have acquired will help revitalize our community to make the City of Rochester a more beautiful place to live.”
“Congratulations to all the Rochesterians who completed this training and are graduating today,” said Congresswoman Louise Slaughter. “Our community is home to some of the brightest minds and capable people anywhere. This innovative program is an example of what can be achieved when we prioritize our neighborhoods and our environment. That’s why I will continue fighting President Trump's dangerous budget proposal and environmental agenda, which thankfully suffered a setback this week when the Senate voted to preserve President Obama’s climate change rule.”
The REJob Program provides program participants with training to earn certification to work in the in-demand fields of asbestos abatement, hazardous waste remediation and environmental cleanup. The program also placed students in full-time employment.
The content of the training was designed based on substantial input from local environmental employers, the City’s Environmental Workforce Advisory Council, and other communities that have successful environmental job training programs. The eight-week training program is available to dislocated workers, severely underemployed individuals and unemployed individuals including low-income and minority residents, veterans and those with little or no advanced education.
The program was administered by the City Department of Environmental Services Division of Environmental Quality with support from the Department of Recreation and Youth Services’ Operation Transformation Rochester.
The program’s partners were: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Monroe #1 BOCES; Cornerstone Training; Riverfront Medical Solutions; LU Engineers; AAC Contracting Inc.; Envoy Environmental Inc., Ravi Engineers; ARAMSCO Inc.; American Red Cross; Lou Zicari; Foodlink Inc. Partner employers included: AAC Contracting Inc.; LaBella Associates D.P.C.; Lu Engineers; Envoy Environmental Inc.; Paradigm Environmental Sampling; Day Environmental; TREC Environmental; Leader Environmental; KBH Construction.
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News Media: For more information, contact Press Officer Jessica Alaimo at 428-7135.