Atlanta, GA, March 31, 2010 – Mayor Kasim Reed today honored 10 individuals who completed the first-ever Atlanta BeltLine Greenspace Job Training Program. The program, a partnership between the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency (AWDA) and Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. (ABI), targets individuals who live in neighborhoods along the BeltLine and trains them with skills to help them compete for BeltLine-funded construction jobs.
“Today’s ceremony begins a new chapter in the lives of these 10 men and women, who now have the necessary skills to compete for jobs building the Atlanta BeltLine and similar jobs around Atlanta,” said Mayor Reed. “While the Atlanta BeltLine is known for creating parks, trails, transit and affordable housing, it is also creating jobs and the kinds of innovative and long lasting partnerships we see here today.”
In February, the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency and Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. started the BeltLine Greenspace Job Training program in basic construction and landscaping. The program’s graduates now have National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER), OSHA, flagger and CPR certifications.
“We’re excited about the success of this first-ever program,” said Deborah Lum, Executive Director of the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency. “Working with ABI, we were able to successfully reach residents and give them skills that will make them competitive in the job market.”
“We are committed to going beyond bricks and mortar to affect positive change in the lives of Atlantans,” said Brian Leary, President and CEO of Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. “While we build the BeltLine we will continue to work with our partners and the community to empower our neighborhoods and their residents.”
Twenty-nine participants began the training class on February 8, 2010. During the course of the program, 12 participants were placed in full-time jobs, primarily with the Atlanta Department of Public Works, and seven others were referred to additional training opportunities for work at the airport and other locations. Ten participants completed the Atlanta BeltLine Greenspace Job Training Program. ABI adopted a first-source jobs policy in June 2009 to train BeltLine residents for BeltLine Tax Allocation District funded construction jobs. ABI also monitors the program and ensures through agreements that contractors on BeltLine TAD funded jobs interview trainees from the program and make good faith efforts to hire them.
AWDA supervised the training program, which was funded by federal workforce development funds through the Georgia Department of Labor. Residents living in Atlanta and around the BeltLine interested in other workforce development opportunities should visit AWDA’s web site at www.atlantaworkforce.org or call 404-658-9675. More information on the Atlanta BeltLine is available online at www.BeltLine.org.
About the Atlanta BeltLine:
The Atlanta BeltLine is a $2.8 billion redevelopment project that will shape the way Atlanta grows over the next several decades. The project provides a network of public parks, multi-use trails and transit along a historic 22-mile railroad corridor circling downtown and connecting many neighborhoods directly to each other. The BeltLine is the most comprehensive economic development effort ever undertaken in the City of Atlanta and among the largest, most wide-ranging urban redevelopment projects currently underway in the United States. Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. (ABI), formed by the Atlanta Development Authority, is the entity tasked with planning and executing the implementation of the BeltLine in partnership with other public and private organizations, including City of Atlanta departments.
CONTACT:
Ethan Davidson, Atlanta BeltLine, Inc.
(404) 614-8325; edavidson@atlbeltline.org
