Introducing Young Workers to Construction
Demand for qualified highway construction workers across the Nation continues to rise, but the lack of an available workforce to help maintain safe roadways remains.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is teaming up with Youth Service and Conservation Corps (Corps) to share opportunities in the highway construction industry. The Corps represents over 150 Youth Service and Conservation organizations, and engages individuals ages 16 to 25 in projects that offer work experience, education, training, and support services. Projects throughout the United States include trail work, restoration, visitor amenities, hydrology, silviculture, recreation, campground management, fuels reduction work, marketing communications, and activities related to range, fire, recreation, wilderness, and wildlife management.
Christopher Douwes is a community planner for the FHWA Office of Human Environment who manages contracts and cooperative agreements for trail-related research, technology development, technical assistance, and training. Douwes says that bicycle and pedestrian trails and transportation alternative projects offer excellent training and preparation for highway construction jobs. "A shared-use path is a mini-highway—and we can build on the skills taught in the Corps," says Douwes.
Douwes says continued collaboration between FHWA and the Corps will be a win-win situation for training young adults and providing a highway construction workforce that will move us forward. "I want to see this partnership grow so all of the well-trained youth who serve in the Corps can become part of our future highway construction workforce," says Douwes.
Learn more. For information about how your State can recruit students and youth into Corps programs that can launch future highway construction careers, visit the links below or contact Christopher Douwes at Christopher.Douwes@dot.gov.
Every Day Counts Virtual Summit 2023
The Every Day Counts Virtual Summit will take place from February 14–16, 2023. The Strategic Workforce Development (SWD) team will present its innovation and share experienced workforce development programs during a live session on February 16. You can secure registration for the event by clicking the registration link below. You can also visit the SWD team virtual booth at the event available on Tuesday, February 14, from 2:00–4:00 p.m. ET and Wednesday, February 15, from 3:00–5:00 p.m. ET.
New FHWA Guidance for Title 23, United States Code, Section 504(e) Funds
New FHWA guidance for 23 U.S.C. 504(e), which provides for the National Highway Performance Program, Surface Transportation Block Grant Program, Highway Safety Improvement Program, and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program highway core program funds that may be used to support workforce development, training, and education activities with 100 percent Federal funding has been approved, and can now be shared with FHWA partner organizations, including State transportation agencies. A link to the guidance can be found here: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/innovativeprograms/
centers/workforce_dev/504e_state_core_programs_guidance_0318.aspx.
YouthBuild Funding Opportunity
The Department of Labor (DOL) posted the funding opportunity “DOL Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant Program (FOA-ETA-23-31)” with a submission deadline of April 23, 2023. The funding for these public-private partnership grants is $500,000 to $5,000,000. The program's purpose is to fund public-private partnerships to develop, strengthen, and scale promising and evidence-based training models in H-1B industries and occupations critical to meeting the goals of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and to maximize the impact of these investments. For more information on this grant, visit: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=343871.
For general proposal tips, please review the online tutorial, “Grant Applications 101: A Plain English Guide to ETA Competitive Grants,” here: https://strategies.workforcegps.org/resources/2014/08/11/16/32/applying-for-eta-competitive-grants-a-web-based-toolkit-for-prospective-applicants-438?p=1.
FHWA In-Person Workshop on Working with Workforce Boards
FHWA conducted a workshop in Dallas, Texas from December 5–7 hosted by the Every Day Counts-6 SWD team. The workshop focused on best practices in working with workforce boards and included discussion and testimonials from select SWD programs from Delaware, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Texas. There was also a representative from the Arizona Chapter of the Associated General Contractors, who shared his experience launching a successful program.
The workshop was structured over three days, including an optional meet and greet, a Texas Department of Transportation ConnectU2Jobs panel, and a day and a half of discussions and State presentations, covering topics such as, building partnerships to benefit your program, challenges in providing training, training provided by your program, what your program looks like today, and how are you reaching the future workforce?
For More Information on Strategic Workforce Development
To learn about how you can identify, train, place, and retain qualified individuals into highway construction jobs, contact Chrisy Currier at Christina.Currier@dot.gov or use the QR codes below.
Source: Federal Highway Administration
|
