Pictured Above: Christian Wells serves as director of the USF Center for Brownfields Research & Redevelopment.
Courtesy of Abby Vidmar
The USF Center for Brownfields Research & Redevelopment and the Corporation to Develop Communities of Tampa are collaborating to launch the Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training program (EWDJT).
The program was developed to clean up polluted neighborhoods in Tampa, while creating job opportunities for its residents.
“The greater goal of the partnership is to help unemployed and under-employed residents of East Tampa develop the skills and earn the certifications necessary to secure full-time careers in environmental and brownfields remediation,” said Christian Wells, director of the USF Center for Brownfields Research & Redevelopment.
“The program will achieve this goal through focused recruitment and retention of community residents, comprehensive training leading to certifications needed for employment in these sectors, and partner-engaged job placement and tracking services.”
The EWDJT program consists of a five-week course where, upon completion, individuals obtain the certifications required to pursue work in the environmental sector.
“If a trainee completes the requirements of an EWDJT Program, they will put themselves in top position to be selected for environmental type jobs within their communities,” said Andrew Wheeler, an administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “In our EWDJT Program, graduation is not the end of the engagement… if not placed in a job then candidates go through weekly meetings, then they transition to monthly meetings.
“Every effort is made on behalf of the program in making sure that the candidates are placed in fulfilling jobs that meet their needs with defined certifications and skill sets.”
According to Wells, the program’s primary focus will be in East Tampa because of its status as an IRS-designated Opportunity Zone and state-designated Enterprise Zone, which provides tax incentives to promote economic investment.
“These trends increasingly provide employment in environmental assessment, cleanup and redevelopment, and present an exciting opportunity for East Tampa residents to participate actively in local revitalization efforts through workforce development,” Wells said.
The U.S. EPA has provided a $200,000 grant to fund the program, which will begin in February 2021.
