| The Office of the Attorney General will award $90,000 in grant funding to organizations across the state to promote equal opportunity for women and minority workers and small business owners in the construction industry.
The Equal Opportunity in the Construction Trades Grant program is providing funding to nonprofit organizations, apprenticeship programs, labor unions and vocational schools to conduct worker training and outreach programs.
“We are pleased to see the Attorney General’s office use this settlement in this way to support initiatives that will help promote diversity in the construction industry,” Greg Beeman, president of the Massachusetts Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors, said in a statement. “This funding will help women and minorities enter an industry that offers meaningful, long-term careers and good, family-supporting wages.”
According to a 2014 report by the National Women’s Law Center, women represent nearly half of the workforce but hold only 2.6 percent of all construction jobs nationwide. There are more than 7.6 million men working in the construction industry and only 206,000 women.
The AG’s Equal Opportunity in the Construction Trades Grant program will provide funding to the following organizations:
- Building Pathways Inc. (Roxbury): The apprenticeship program, sponsored by the Building and Construction Trades Council of the Metropolitan District in partnership with the Action for Boston Community Development and the Boston Housing Authority, will conduct outreach and recruitment and provide occupational training and career coaching to low-income minority workers in the Greater Boston Area.
- Community Labor/United Northeast Center for Tradeswomen’s Equity (Boston): The nonprofit organization will hire a “pipeline navigator” to coordinate outreach for information sessions and workshops geared toward assisting workers seeking apprenticeship programs and construction jobs.
- Southeastern Regional Vocational-Technical School District (South Easton): The vocational school district will create an outreach program that will include an open house for parents and students, field trips to construction job sites for students, and participation in the Girls in Trades and SKillsUSA conferences.
- Worcester Roots (Worcester): The nonprofit organization will reach out to formerly incarcerated individuals and minority workers about jobs in the construction industry. The organization will also create a construction and trade opportunities grant resource guide and hold trainings for union officials and chambers of commerce on best practices for engaging with underrepresented communities in the workforce.
- YouthBuild Boston (Boston): The nonprofit organization will expand its 12-week pre-apprenticeship program and focus its outreach efforts on focus on female and minority workers in Roxbury, Mattapan and Dorchester.
- Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School (Fall River): The vocational school district will train HVAC and electricity students in its Build Your Future Program, which targets women and minority students.
- YWCA of Western Massachusetts (Springfield): The organization will enroll 28 women in construction skills training.
