Workforce officials look forward to Biden’s workforce boost in Milwaukee

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Workforce intermediary WRTP | BIG STEP praised the White House’s announcement to support Milwaukee as the city sets goals to replace all of its lead service lines within a decade.

The White House on Thursday announced Milwaukee as one of four new Workforce Hubs under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to reduce its timeline for replacing 100% of its lead pipes from 60 years to 10 years in the latest proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule, federal officials said.

The EPA and Department of Transportation will help train workers and scale up the workforce for lateral replacements, but it’s not clear yet how much money is included. The White House named upstate New York, Michigan and Philadelphia, Penn. as three other hubs.

Workforce officials called the designation a “nod to the robust workforce ecosystem in Milwaukee and our ability to meet the demands of the clean energy economy which is poised to see billion-dollar growth over the next few decades.”

“Milwaukee and its surrounding communities are the site of significant investments from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to replace all lead pipes, upgrade transportation, deliver clean and reliable energy, expand access to high-speed internet, and ensure that residents have safe clean water and more,” officials continued.

The funding from BIL will allow WRTP | BIG STEP to leverage its model to expand training efforts and ensure that infrastructure investments create opportunities for Wisconsin residents first and foremost, officials said. The workforce intermediary will work with local and state partners to expand union career opportunities for residents, particularly those in disenfranchised communities, they added.

Here’s what the Workforce Hub designation means going forward, according to WRTP | BIG STEP:

• • WRTP | BIG STEP will lead the way in meeting workforce demand with practices already in place. The U.S. Department of Energy recently awarded the nonprofit a $1.5 million grant to train hundreds to enter clean energy and electric vehicle charging apprenticeships. The investment is estimated to generate $16 billion in the state economy.
• • The workforce intermediary partnered with employers and unions to provide workers that reflect the community, after Gov. Tony Evers’ administration announced it wanted to create 40,000 new jobs in the clean energy sector by 2030 (68,000 jobs by 2050). WRTP | BIG STEP serves 2,000 people each year and over 60% identify as people of color (of which 45% are African American and 31% are Latinx) and nearly 15% identify as women
• • The organization and WisDOT are partners and together hire employers to offer the Highway Construction Skilled Trades (HCST) Certified pre-apprenticeship program with over 80% of graduates placed each year. The organization also offers a CDL component so participants can stack credentials needed in most clean energy careers.
• • WRTP | BIG STEP is also partnered with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) and Veolia to assist in the talent pipeline development and give hands-on learning around clean water for people living in the city and Milwaukee County
• • WRTP | BIG STEP officials said they have been an anchor organization in downtown Milwaukee and trusted among diverse neighborhoods for 50 years. “One of the best tools we have for creating generational employment, economic stability, and access to the middle class is to and through union registered apprenticeship,” officials said. “This is crucial as 69% of jobs created by BIL/CHIPS Act/Inflation Reduction Act are available to workers without a bachelor’s degree,” they added.
• • Cornell University recently featured WRTP | BIG STEP as a workforce best practice in its Climate Jobs Institute report, “Building an Equitable, Diverse & Unionized Clean Energy Economy.”