The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency selected the City of Worcester’s MassHire Central Region Workforce Board for a Brownfields Job Training grant. One of 16 organizations nationwide to earn an award through a highly competitive process, the MCRWB will over the next three years train 80 students and place 56 in environmental jobs.
Students who complete the training will earn up to two state and five federal certifications and get free job search and placement assistance from MassHire Central Region Career Centers in Worcester or Southbridge.
Starting in Spring 2025, the MCRWB will offer environmental remediation trainings including OSHA 40-hour HAZWOPER, OSHA 10-hour Construction Safety. Asbestos Remediation, LEED Green Associate, Massachusetts Hoisting Licenses, First Aid/CPR-AED, and BOUNCE Life/Career Skills. Training stipends will be available for qualified City of Worcester residents.
MCRWB seeks to enroll residents from the City’s six urban core Opportunity Zone Census Tracts (identified as disadvantaged Justice40 communities). Partners include the Central Massachusetts Region Planning Commission, the City of Worcester Department of Public Works and Parks, MassHire Central Region Career Centers, the Worcester Business Development Corporation, the Worcester Housing Authority, and the Worcester Jobs Fund.
Contact Program Manager Maria Sanchez for more information.
About the EPA Brownfields Program
EPA’s Brownfields Program empowers states, Tribal Nations, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A Brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. EPA makes available Brownfields JT grant funds to nonprofit organizations and other eligible entities to recruit and train unemployed and underemployed residents from communities affected by environmental pollution, economic disinvestment, and Brownfields and place them in environmental jobs. 
Since the program was created in 1998, EPA has awarded 430 grants totaling over $113.1M through Brownfield JT programs. These funds have enabled approximately 23,460 individuals to complete training with more than 17,450 individuals placed in careers related to environmental health and safety. The average starting wage for environmental remediation jobs over the last five years is approximately $23/hour.
