Springfield, MA -Twenty-seven Springfield residents graduated from the Springfield Works building trades pre-apprenticeship program, Thursday, July 1st, during a ceremony at the Sheet Metal Workers Local 63 in Springfield.
While unemployment is high in the current economic downturn, the construction industry will be facing a shortage of qualified new workers. Springfield Works was created to help address this shortage and to educate disadvantaged youth, women and people of color about the wide range of career opportunities available in the construction industry, and to enhance their job readiness skills.
According to Springfield Works Program Director Mike Florio, “Springfield Works provides participants with an inside look at building trade careers and entrepreneurial opportunities in the green economy.” Florio also serves as the Executive Director of Western MassCOSH.
“The program shows participants that construction is a great profession – whether their interests lie in plumbing, carpentry, roofing, or green construction – and that the industry offers rewarding, high-paying careers”, added Mary Vogel, Executive Director of The Construction Institute and Coordinator of Case Management and Placement for Springfield Works.
Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, speaking at the graduation, applauded the program saying that “Springfield Works provides a great opportunity as the economy starts to move, for participants to get back in the workforce.”
George Noel, Director of Labor for the Massachusetts Department of Labor and Workforce Development added, “it is vitally important that we invest in training the next generation of construction workers and give disadvantaged youth, people of color and women career opportunities in the building trades.”
Springfield Works was funded through a grant from the Commonwealth Corporation and is managed jointly by the UMass Amherst Work Environment Program and Western MassCOSH. It was created through a partnership between UMass Amherst, Western MassCOSH, ECHO for Sustainable Development, Massachusetts AFL-CIO, The Construction Institute, affiliates of the Pioneer Valley Building Trades Council, Carpenters Local 108, Urban Impact Industries, Alternative Energy Works, the Hamden County Regional Employment Board, and other construction industry stakeholders and community organizations.