GREENFIELD — Greenfield Community College will use $96,323 in grant funding to plan training programs in the fields of clean energy and weatherization technology.
Out of a roughly $2 million pool of Equity Workforce Planning and Capacity Grants awarded by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center to municipalities across the state, GCC received two grants — one for $46,765 to start a weatherization technology course and another $49,558 to develop a multidisciplinary training program offering a course in industrial arts, such as electrical, welding, construction and robotics.
“Weatherization tech is a climate-critical role for which there is a great and growing need among employers in western and central Massachusetts,” GCC Vice President of Workforce Development Kristin Cole said. “Really, across the whole state, building high-performance weatherization, including things like insulation installation, that’s all a required step in advancing the conversion to heat pump systems, which is a big part of the state’s decarbonization goals.”
The Equity Workforce Planning and Capacity Grant funding was bundled into a more than $16 million funding stream aimed at advancing clean energy fields toward the state’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Cole said GCC plans to hire the non-profit Building Performance Institute to bring needed trade credentials into the training program. She added that the college is working to make students ready for work by teaching professional skills in a number of well-paid clean energy skilled trades such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC).
“There’s already significant waiting periods for those services because there’s just not enough of a workforce to do this weatherization tech,” Cole said. “We’re really aiming to build a training program that will provide industry-recognized credentials.”
Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.
