Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is planning to go to the Common Council with $13.8 million plan to help boost job training and employee readiness in the city.
Barrett wants to use money that came to the city from the American Rescue Plan to tackle skills gap and job boost training. He wants to use $6 million for job training on lead abatement certification.
“Lead abatement, without a doubt, is one of the major issues that we face in this community,” Barrett said adding that the city needs people with proper skills who know how to handle the work.
Barrett also wants to use $3 million for skill level transition process for young adults ages 18 and 19, to offer “knowledge building and translatable job skills.”
“We know there are a lot of young people in the city of Milwaukee who don’t have jobs and don’t have the job skills,” Barrett said.
Barrett also wants to use $2.7 million for a Century City clean jobs project to connect potential workers with employment in energy fields.
“We see this as an area where we want more opportunities for people to have jobs in an field that we think is growing,” Barrett said.
Barrett wants to use the remaining $1.1 million to advance technology employment opportunities and apprenticeships.
The city has allocated $3.8 million for summer youth employment with Employ Milwaukee.
“This initiative that we launched with the summer youth employment was just the beginning because without a doubt workforce development and job readiness are two key challenges that we face here in the city of Milwaukee,” Barrett said adding it is part of his Milwaukee Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The $13.8 million focusing on job training is aside from the $30 million in ARPA funds earmarked for housing in Milwaukee.
If approved by the Common Council, the city plans to partner with Employ Milwaukee, Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership/BIG STEP, and Milwaukee Area Technical College.
“We see this as a historic opportunity to make long-term, impactful change in our community by providing our residents with upscaling opportunities, wages and enhanced support services that can connect them to family supporting career pathways and fields that are looking for workers right now,” said Chytania Brown, president and CEO of Employ Milwaukee.
Laura Bray, vice president of college advancement and external communications for MATC, said this funding can help them provide residents with “stackable credentials.”
“We might be able to get someone CDL (commercial driver’s license) training and then they’ll be able to get to the next thing and maybe enroll in our truck driving program which can get them an even better paying job,” Bray said. “We’re trying to work as a system. That we’re not just trying to get a person a job, but a career path that gets them employed and starts to work to address the issues of upward mobility.”
Bray also mentioned, if approved, MATC plans to expand its IT bootcamp which allows participants earn the pre-apprenticeship service center technician certificate
Bray said the program has graduated more than 100 students and there are currently 23 in the program.
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