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Michigan receives $750,000 to support workers seeking good jobs in infrastructure and clean energy

“Receiving this $750,000 grant is a significant step forward for Michigan workers as we seek to lead the nation in leveraging federal investments to create good jobs. Our Community & Worker Economic Transition Office is committed to ensuring Michigan workers, communities and businesses benefit from the clean energy future,” said Jonathan SmithSenior Chief Deputy Director of LEO. “This funding will support our efforts to ensure that the jobs created in the energy and infrastructure sectors provide good wages, benefits and economic stability for our citizens.”

This award is another achievement for Michigan as a national leader in the use of climate and infrastructure finance and workforce development. Recent reports indicate that Michigan is theState number two in the country in the use of federal funds in the area of ​​climate and energy and a Top-five state The Inflation Reduction Act has created jobs and attracted investment. Michigan also has more employed people than any other state in the Midwest.

The Families and Workers Fund is a collective action platform and a $125 million+ shared fund led by the Ford Foundation and supported by 40 diverse funders working together to build a more equitable economy that benefits everyone. The Fund leverages catalytic partnerships and collaboration between philanthropy, government, and the private sector to develop a more inclusive, effective public benefits system and promote jobs that feed and benefit people. To date, the Fund has provided over $52 million in grants and strategic partnerships that have directly benefited 1.4 million people.

The Economic Transition Office is working to embed job quality standards into all worker-focused programs and ensure that workers affected by the transition have meaningful access to well-paying, high-skilled jobs in clean energy and infrastructure. To do so, it will use these funds to strengthen the capacity of the LEO's workforce system and industry partnerships by engaging employers and creating industry- and company-specific job quality assessments to highlight the benefits that quality jobs bring to workers' families and the economy.

After this framework is developed and tested during the grant term, the Economic Transition Office will work with other Michigan departments and agencies to implement similar standards to maximize the benefits of intergenerational infrastructure and clean energy investments and positively impact at least 30,000 Michigan workers annually for the next five years.

The project complements the recent Guidelines for infrastructure personnel to train 5,000 new infrastructure workers by 2030. The grant efforts will help develop Michigan's statewide infrastructure workforce strategy and ensure Michigan continues to lead the way in workforce development.

There were over 450 applicants for the Powering Climate and Infrastructure Careers Challenge.

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