The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced selection of Springfield, Missouri as a Brownfields job training program grant recipient is an investment in the city's people, a regional administrator said in a news release.
Springfield was one of 19 organization nationwide that each will receive an approximately $200,000 job training and workforce development grant that is expected to benefit hundreds, according to a Feb. 2 EPA news release. The Brownfields job training program grants are part of the Biden-Harris administration's "commitment to advance economic opportunities and deliver environmental justice to underserved communities to build a better America," the news release said.
Springfield Workforce Development Director Sally Payne
| springfieldmo.gov/
"EPA and the city of Springfield are investing in people and that always pays off," EPA Region 7 Administrator Meghan A. McCollister said in the release. "The graduates of the Springfield job training program will be prepared for high-paying, hazardous waste cleanup jobs, like lead-based paint in houses, asbestos and others."
The EPA grant is funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
"The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a better America and that means new, good-paying jobs," EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in the EPA's news release. "The Brownfields Job Training grants announced today will prepare over 1,000 individuals for new environmental jobs like those. This program will directly impact people’s lives, boosting the environmental workforce while helping to transform communities that need it the most."
Springfield will use the EPA grant to train 56 students and place at least 35 into environmental jobs, according to the EPA news release. The training program is expected to include 160 instruction hours in areas to include hazardous waste operations and emergency response, trenching and excavation, confined space entry and lead abatement.
"We are incredibly honored and grateful to accept this fourth round of grant funding from the EPA to continue our Green for Greene environmental job training program," Springfield Workforce Development Director Sally Payne said in the EPA news release. "We know this training is life-changing for the graduates of this program, as it allows them a way to acquire skills and obtain gainful employment. Many thanks to the EPA for selecting the city of Springfield Department of Workforce Development as the recipient of this grant."
Springfield, nicknamed "Queen City of the Ozarks" in southwestern Missouri, is a city of about 168,000 that crew more than 28 percent between 2010 and 2020, according to information on the city's website. Springfield's metropolitan statistical area is made up of Greene, Christian, Webster, Polk and Dallas counties.
In a separate and unrelated news release issued by the city last week, Springfield announced it will receive an $800,000 U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration grant for redevelopment of the Lake Springfield area. That grant is funded by the American Rescue Plan, part of Commerce's $300 million Coal Communities Commitment and the first competitive grant under the rescue plan to be awarded in the region, according to the Friday, Feb. 11 news release.
