EPA Awards Job Training Grant to Saint Paul Port Authority (MN)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 11-OPA078
(CHICAGO – August 24, 2011) The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a $300,000
Brownfields Job Training Grant to the Saint Paul Port Authority in
Minnesota.
EPA Regional Administrator Susan Hedman
recognized SPPA’s sustained commitment to urban redevelopment
at an event today with Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman at the Beacon
Bluff Business Center at 900 Bush Avenue. Beacon Bluff is located
on the site of the former 3M Co.’s international
headquarters, now redeveloped as the anchor of an expanding
business park.
“The Port Authority has been a
leader in redeveloping underutilized brownfields sites for
decades,” said Hedman. “This grant will will help
veterans and dislocated workers gain the marketable skills needed
for today's green jobs."
The grant will be managed by SPPA
‘s workforce development arm, Employer Solutions Inc.
Employer Solutions plans to train 90 students and place at least 70
percent of graduates in environmental jobs. The core training
consists of six three-week sessions, with courses on hazardous
materials management, energy management and reducing environmental
releases and emissions. Additional classes cover asbestos cleanup
and hazardous waste excavation.
“This is an important day for
Saint Paul,” Mayor Chris Coleman said. “In this tough
economic climate, these kinds of training and placement programs
are essential. I look forward to watching this program’s
success.”
“The ongoing partnership between
the Environmental Protection Agency and the Saint Paul Port
Authority has helped stimulate the creation of hundreds of jobs in
the City and, with this grant, Employer Solutions Inc. and the Port
will help assure that local residents have the skills to compete
for those jobs,” Port President Louis Jambois
said.
SPPA has been awarded more than $9.4
million through 17 separate brownfields grants since 1997. About
$4.2 million of that has supported the redevelopment of the Port
Authority’s Beacon Bluff Business Center.
Many Twin Cities area governments have
received EPA brownfields funding. The City of Saint Paul has
received $2.4 million in grants since 2003, primarily supporting
the planned Central Corridor Light Rail Transit line. Hennepin
County ($7.5 million since 1998), Minneapolis ($1.6 million since
1999), Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development
($5.7 million since 2003), Ramsey County ($200,000 in 2011), and
South Saint Paul ($2.1 million since 2005) have also been awarded
EPA brownfields grants.
More information on EPA’s
brownfields program is available at www.epa.gov/brownfields. More
information about EPA Brownfields Job Training Grants, including a
fact sheet about the 2011 SPPA grant, is available at
www.epa.gov/brownfields/job.htm.