Montana Green-Ready Workforce Competency Model

An American Recovery Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Energy Training Partnership grant recipient, Montana Electrical Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee, is using its grant to targets current craft workers in need of skill upgrades to obtain or retain employment and unemployed workers seeking to enter targeted industries will receive training required for electricians, electrical line workers, carpenters, millwrights, laborers, weatherization technicians, iron workers (welders), HVAC technicians, power plant technicians, plumbers/pipefitters, and heavy equipment operators.

Grantee:  Montana Electrical Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee

Location of Grant Activities:  State of Montana

Grant Award:  $5,000,000

Project Description:  Approximately 2,450 participants will complete green competency model training plans and receive a certificate that corresponds to their training as pre-apprentices, apprentices, and journeymen workers in Montana’s current and emerging energy efficiency and renewable energy industries.

Targeted Industry:  Energy-Efficient Building Construction and Renewable Electric Power
Targeted Population:  Unemployed workers

Success Story:  As of the end of the first quarter, the project partners have served just over 400 apprentices and approximately 400 journeymen in their respective trades across the state of Montana to meet target population goals. The partners have participated in two outreach events to advertise training opportunities, recruit apprentices to their specific crafts, and outreach to historically underserved populations, including women and minorities. Currently, of the enrolled apprentices 2 percent are women, 7 percent represent minority groups and 9 percent are veterans.

According to the grantee, the success of the grant project to date was the ability to submit a grant proposal that included ten different Joint Apprenticeship & Training Councils (JATCs) from across the state. This coupled with the coordinated training underway and to be implemented is a great success for apprenticeship and training in the State of Montana and will most likely result in a continued cooperation amongst the trades involved.