The Missouri Job Center has received a grant that will help provide job opportunities in Springfield’s northwest quadrant. The $200,000 grant, from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will be used to recruit, train and place local unemployed and underemployed individuals in full-time, sustainable, green jobs in a range of environmental fields, according to the City of Springfield.
The grant comes from EPA’s Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Program and is one of only 18 nationwide. It’s expected to provide funding to enroll at least 56 trainees in the program, with a goal of placing at least 35 graduates into the local job market in positions such as site cleanup, ecological restoration and lead and asbestos abatement at brownfields remediation projects.
According to the city, the grant will prioritize the green job training services to eligible residents of 19 census tracts within the Springfield city limits encompassing these neighborhoods: Bingham, Doling Park, Downtown, Fairfield Acres/Bissett, Fassnight, Grant Beach, Heart of the Westside, Midtown, Robberson, Rountree/Walnut, Tom Watkins, Weller, West Central, Westside and Woodland Heights.
City Manager Greg Burris says he believes the award will “help our Zone Blitz efforts to secure jobs for residents in our under-resourced areas of the community.”
