City will allot $14.5M in ARPA funding for workforce development

Nine human-services organizations will use $14.5 million in federal funding allotted to the city of Rochester to engage more than 3,000 residents in workforce development and entrepreneurship training.

The agencies will utilize American Rescue Plan Act dollars for training across a variety of sectors, including landscape maintenance, urban agriculture, the culinary and construction trades, health care and cloud computing.

“History shows that moments of economic transition help some people and hurt others, and Black, Brown and poor people are always among the largest share of those who are hurt,” Rochester Mayor Malik Evans said in a news release. “These partnerships will harness the creativity of our city’s most determined human-service providers to help our residents overcome systemic challenges so they can successfully navigate these changes to find good paying jobs or start their own businesses.”

The city issued a request for proposals in July, seeking partners to develop and manage workforce development and entrepreneurship training programs.

A list of agencies, allotments and proposed programs, subject to City Council approval:

» Action for a Better Community — $1 million to provide job training and retention support for 210 residents. The Employment Retention and Incentive Curriculum (ERIC) will be used to facilitate hiring and retention training in high-growth, high-demand employment sectors within the city, including manufacturing, child care and green jobs. The program provides four weeks of full-time training prior to employment, and case managers offer incentives to help remove barriers to employment.

» Catholic Charities Family and Community Services — $2.4 million to provide high school equivalency coursework and construction job skills training for 105 residents between 18 and 24. There will be 22 week of high school equivalency education coupled with training and hands-on experience in the construction trades through Flower City Habitat for Humanity.

» Center for Employment Opportunities — $1.5 million to provide transitional work in landscaping and groundskeeping services on city-owned property to 375 residents on parole or recently released from incarceration.

» Finger Lakes Performing Provider Systems — $2.4 million for training 660 residents in home health care, with a trajectory to become a nurse, phlebotomist, respiratory technician or enter another health care specialty.

» Foodlink — $825,000 for culinary and agricultural skills job training through a 12-month fellowship program for 412 residents. The program will target low-income individuals looking to obtain marketable skills or enhance existing knowledge, in addition to the refugee community and those involved in the criminal justice system.

» Pathstone — $3.5 million to provide 830 residents with workforce training as well as assistance for small businesses with development services, financial education, marketing and startup grants.

» Taproot Collective — $375,000 for training of 75 teenagers, ages 14 and 15, in urban agriculture. The program will include guidance with ancillary financial empowerment and workforce development.

» Tech Talent — $2 million to provide high-tech training and Cloud Practitioner Certification to 160 residents. Participants will receive stipends, job placement and job retention bonuses.

» The Commissary Incubator — $1 million to help 205 food entrepreneurs create or expand food ventures.

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