Goodwill of North Georgia just kicked off The Goodwill Clean Tech Infrastructure Academy (CTIA) on Monday, Jan. 29, an EV and green workforce development program in partnership with Accenture.
The Atlanta pilot program is set to run from Jan. 29 through Feb. 23. The first run has 30 participants across three cohorts. This is the first of three scheduled cohorts in the program. Two more are scheduled to begin in March and April, all lasting around four weeks.
Eventually, the aim is to train 200 people to work in the industry — specifically, maintenance of EV chargers, which continue to have a larger presence in Georgia.
Jenny Taylor, vice president of Career Services & Chief Mission Officer at Goodwill of North Georgia, has been part of trying to get this program off the ground from the beginning. She said this is the kind of work — beyond thrift shopping that Goodwill is synonymous with — that the organization excels at doing.
“One of the difficult things is that most people don’t really know what we do,” Taylor said. “They understand that we are synonymous with thrift stores, but all those very generous people who donate and shop, they don’t know where those dollars go.”
The program is also being implemented in other cities around the country, with Detroit having the same EV charging station technician program track as Atlanta.
The program is making an intentional effort to train unemployed people.
Trainees will make $15 an hour to begin, with a pay increase to $20 once they begin work post-training period.
Just as plumbers and electricians were skilled trades of the past, the clean energy transition is opening up new forms of needed, skilled work.
With a growing EV infrastructure, skilled professionals in maintaining these chargers are critical, and that is exactly why a program like this exists, Taylor said.
“They’ve been using electricians to install but also to maintain them as well. And there aren’t enough electricians,” Taylor said. “So Accenture really looked at deconstructing the electrician field to determine what you need to do to maintain charging stations, and we were able to break it down into a four-week training program for those essential skills.”
Goodwill of North Georgia is also making a concerted effort to ensure these newly in-demand jobs see a diverse workforce so that everyone has an opportunity to benefit from the clean energy transition.
“The majority of people we serve are women and people of color; [Goodwill of North Georgia] has the most African American persons employed in living wage jobs among all of our peers,” Taylor said.
One of the most crucial parts of the program is that I served as an entry point, not a final destination for these trainees, explained Taylor. After experience under their belt post-program, workers can go in to earn more certifications and eventually have the skills not only to maintain but to install the chargers or transfer their skills to another clean energy job.
The program is a joint effort, with partnerships with the Atlanta Regional Commission, General Motors and Georgia Power Foundation, along with partnerships with metro workforce boards like WorkSource Fulton and others.
Along with those helping catalyze the program, a number of companies have partnered to employ the trainees after the program period because the need for skilled workers in these fields is so high.
“It’s a little bit of a chicken and egg scenario,” Taylor said. “The manufacturers are building the electric vehicles, the consumers are thinking about buying those electric vehicles, but they need confidence that there’s not just a charger in their home, that they can charge at their destination and along the route.”
The program, if successful, could see other iterations of clean energy workforce training programs in the future beyond EVs.
Hello 11Alive News,
On January 23, 2023 12 plus people where selected due to their test scores to participate and Train for in the Goodwill workforce program in the Clean Tech infrastructure Academy, 11Alive News was there to promote this to broadcast this new venture that will bring new upcoming jobs also promised to be making $30.00 an hour.
After the 12 plus trainers finished their 4 weeks of training, got Certified, and conducted their interviews with the companies that was promised to be there after the training was done all attended accept for Tesla. Now! they all got Certified and was promised positions also, to be starting pay is $30.00 an hour. They have not reached out to any of the one’s that went though the training that had their hopes up they will be working will driving EV-related jobs in growing industry in Georgia
The Clean Tech Infrastructure Academy launched its first cohort Tuesday with more than a dozen trainees
Those 12 plus candidates went though 4 weeks of training NO JOBS OFFER Keith Parker President and CEO of Goodwill should be answering questions on camera about the jobs he promised that was going to be giving to those that finished the program..
Where is the JOBS, The $30.00 an hour, The Hope he placed in the 12 plus that finished the Training and got Certified. Was it a Lie and they don’t want to pay them the $30.00 an hour as promised.
11Alive I hope that you can get to the bottom of this and see why those 12 plus have not been offered a position with anyone if they are Certified and are ready to go to work, wasn’t that the purpose of Goodwill announcing new jobs for this new venture in Atlanta to provide the people those candidates that go though the training and get them certified to place them on jobs.
Inquiry Mind wants to know if 11Alive going to provide the people with answers?
Please follow-up with Goodwill to see what happened to the 12 plus candidates that went though the Clean Tech infrastructure Academy with Goodwill and update everyone as to where they are now with job placement and why haven’t they been offered a position.