Green Jobs Innovation Fund Accepting Applications

The Department of Labor has announced the Green Jobs Innovation Fund competition to support opportunities in green industry sectors and occupations.  President Obama has called on the United States to have “the best educated, most competitive workforce in the world,” and one way to get there is through green jobs.

With community colleges involved in the training of half of the students that attend college, they provide the backbone of education for the nation’s workforce.  Green jobs programs are already in place at many community colleges and students are already seeing the value in them.  Many community colleges are struggling to continue these incredible programs without additional funding, so this announcement presents a great opportunity.

The Green Jobs Innovation Fund will award approximately $40 million to support five to eight grantees with awards ranging from $5 million to $8 million each.  Applicants include national and state organizations that work with local communities that currently offer career training programs and must benefit a minimum of six communities per grant.

The funds will enable organizations to develop training programs that incorporate green career pathways by forging linkages between apprenticeship programs and integrating technical and basic skills training through community-based partnerships.  The grants are tied to the Labor Department’s vision of increasing the number of individuals completing training programs with industry-recognized credentials and increasing the number of individuals completing training programs for employment in green jobs.

The deadline for these applications is March 29, 2011.  There is an informational webinar on February 25 at noon eastern regarding thee Green Jobs Innovation Fund.  Please tune into the webinar for more info, or view it at a later date as it will be available online.

View the full announcement and get more details on the Green Jobs Innovation Fund.