Welcome to the Employment Development Department

Construction Talent Transfer
Award List and Project Summaries

Press Release

On May 29, 2008, grants were awarded to 9 organizations under the Construction Talent Transfer Solicitation. Project descriptions, award amounts, and contact information are listed below.

Award List
Awardees County WIA 15 Percent Amount
District Council 16 Northern California Journeymen & Apprentice Training Trust Fund Alameda $500,000
Los Angeles City Community Development Department Los Angeles $500,000
North Central Counties Consortium Sutter $500,000
Northern California Teamster Apprentice Training Sacramento $500,000
Playa Vista Job Opportunities and Business Services Los Angeles $500,000
Richmond City Contra Costa $500,000
Riverside County Economic Development Agency Riverside $466,806
Sacramento Employment and Training Agency Sacramento $500,000
Santa Monica College Los Angeles $500,000
Total Funding Recommendations $4,466,806

District Council 16 Northern California Journeymen and Apprentice Training Trust Fund
3393 Arden Road
Hayward, CA 94545

Mark Watchers
(510) 259-0100

Award Amount: $500,000

Summary: The purpose of this project is to recruit dislocated workers from the residential construction industry and train them to work in finishing trades on public works projects. Trainees will be offered work immediately, to help alleviate some of the financial pressure that comes with being unemployed, and then cycled into training. These particular trades offer fewer barriers to entrance into union construction work than most other trades, so trainees will find employment in a short amount of time. Types of construction will be highway, bridge, and tunnel improvement. Partners include Alameda County Workforce Investment Board, Chabot-Las Positas Community College District, California Labor Federation-Workforce Economic Development, and various construction trade associations.

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Los Angeles City Community Development Department
1200 W. 7th Street, 6th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90017

Gregory Burks
(213) 744-7132

Award Amount: $500,000

Summary: The Construction Talent Transfer Program will provide training and services to workers laid off from residential construction in order for them to be equipped for commercial and public works construction. The Program will provide an assessment of each worker’s skills and abilities, provide Bridge Training as needed, refer the worker to construction trade unions for placement on a job site, and provide supportive services as needed.

Training and placement will be in commercial construction trades such as electrical, pipefitting, plumbing, dry wall, glazing, tiling, carpentry, iron work, welding, painting, roofing, sheet metal, brick masonry, and cement masonry.

With the City of Los Angeles Community Development Department, program partners not only include the United Auto Workers/Labor Employment and Training Corporation, and Community Centers, Incorporated (and the rest of the Los Angeles WorkSource System); but also the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Los Angeles Community College District, and various trade unions.

This program will achieve several objectives: a) it will train and place workers dislocated from residential construction projects; b) it will replace large numbers of workers retiring from the construction trades unions; and c) it is in accordance with the Mayor's goals and objectives for workforce development.

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North Central Counties Consortium
422 Century Park, Suite B
Yuba City, CA 95991

Stewart Knox
(530) 822-7145

Award Amount: $500,000

Summary: North Central Counties Consortium (NCCC) will serve 91 laid off workers from the residential construction industry. The project focus is on advancement of workers skills through training, seminars, and on-the job training. The service strategy ensures that employment opportunities are expanded to a fuller spectrum of occupations in the construction field such as: plumbers/pipe fitters, sheet metal workers, welders, heavy equipment operators, heating and air conditioning, cement finishers, building/construction inspectors. Bond Measure 1B creates public works projects in nonresidential construction areas of school expansions, road improvements, bridge replacements, and various other facility expansions and improvements. Additionally, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) will construct a power generating station in Colusa County. Employers include Baldwin Construction, Teichert Construction PG&E, Cox Construction, ACCO Air Conditioning, Couch Plumbing, WV Alton Heating and Air Conditioning, and others. Labor unions include the Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 228, Sheet Metal Workers Local 162, and the Butte-Glenn Central Labor Council, and local construction firms. Project partners include NCCC's Career One-Stop Centers (Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Sutter, and Yuba Counties), California Human Development Corporation, and Yuba, Butte, and Mendocino Community Colleges.

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Northern California Teamster Apprentice Training
14738 Cantova Way
Rancho Murieta, CA 95683

Troy Ohlhause
(916) 354-2122

Award Amount: $500,000

Summary: The purpose of the project is to recruit dislocated workers from the residential construction industry, train them to work as construction drivers and direct them to Teamsters Local Unions to be dispatched to work on public works projects. Training will take place at the Northern California Teamsters Apprentice Training and Education Trust Fund (NCTAT) site in Rancho Murieta, one of only three construction driving schools in the State, and the only one with such extensive facilities. All trainees will receive the five week Class A Commercial Drivers License course and four weeks of construction modules of their choice. Types of construction will include: tunnel construction and widening, freeway upgrades, High Occupancy Vehicle construction and extension, freeway ramp modifications, freeway interchange construction, bridge replacement and widening and retrofitting. Partners include Mother Lode Job Training, San Joaquin County Worknet, Young Community Developers, Teamsters Local 150, Associated General Contractors of California, and California Labor Federation-Workforce and Economic Development Program.

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Playa Vista Job Opportunities and Business Services
9100 South Sepulveda Boulevard, Suite 200
Los Angeles, CA 90045

Ernest Roberts
(310) 590-1385

Award Amount: $500,000

Summary: This project will serve approximately 150 laid off construction workers. Services include educational and vocational training, certified pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship training. Intensive services and as needed training services will prepare dislocated workers with the most barriers to employment for new careers in the construction trades and placed in public works or nonresidential construction jobs. An extraordinary number of public works and infrastructure construction project are occurring in Los Angeles County such as the Cross Valley Connector, the Expo Light Rail Transit System, UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles Public Library, Alameda Corridor Design-Build, to name a few. Partners include the WorkSource Center, Los Angeles Unified School District, LA Trade Technical college, Centinella Valley Adult School Apprentice Preparation, Los Angeles County Building Trades, and Regional Council of Carpenters.

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Richmond City
330 25th Street
Richmond, CA 94804

Fred Lucero
(510) 307-8059

Award Amount: $500,000

Summary: The East Bay CRAFT (Construction Referral and Focused Training) project will address the training and supportive service needs of 140 dislocated workers in Alameda and Contra Costa counties and transition them into nonresidential construction employment. The project brings together employer, union, employment training, education, and community partners to provide focused training in areas such as concrete form work, metal stud framing, welding, and safety that will provide participants with the necessary skills to successfully obtain alternative employment.

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Riverside County Economic Development Agency
1151 Spruce Street
Riverside, CA 92507

Jamil Dada
(951) 955-3100

Award Amount: $466,806

Summary: The collaborative effort of the Inland Counties Construction Consortium (ICCC) will combine resources and partnerships of unions, trades council, employers and education in providing the “bridge” training needed for successful transition of dislocated workers from residential construction to public works/commercial construction employment.

The ICCC will serve 100 dislocated workers and provide skill assessment, enrollment and referrals to one or more services: remedial literacy training, vocational English as a second language, internships, pre-apprenticeship, apprenticeships and employment. The success of the ICCC will contribute to sustainability and replicate this project by supporting on-going State and local infrastructure development. Construction will include industrial construction (i.e. distribution and warehouse space) along the I-215 corridor to support the rise in exporting functions. Partners include San Bernardino WIB, trade employers (Riverside & San Bernardino Building & Construction Trades Council), Chaffey College, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and AFL-CIO.

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Sacramento Employment and Training Agency
925 Del Paso Boulevard
Sacramento, CA 95815

Christine Welsch
(916) 274-1019

Award Amount: $500,000

Summary: The Sacramento Regional Initiative in Construction and Transportation will address the increasing demand for trained workers in the infrastructure, public works and alternative energy sector to build and rebuild highways, bridges, commercial buildings, levees, dams and schools. The Sacramento region is poised to begin several major infrastructure and public works jobs. This Sacramento initiative brings together partners from workforce, construction industry, education and organized labor to train and redirect dislocated workers to meet the demand for a skilled labor force. Some partners include Sacramento Works, Inc., Golden Sierra Job Training Agency, Sacramento Builders Exchange, Teichert Construction, SMUD, American River College and Sacramento Sierra Building & Construction Trades Council. Dislocated and under-employed construction workers will receive training and assistance to enhance their skill set and increase their access to employment in the infrastructure, public works and alternative energy construction sector.

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Santa Monica College
1900 Pico Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90405

F.I. Cajayon
(310) 434-3311

Award Amount: $500,000

Summary: This project will provide courses, workshops and wrap-around services to train laid-off workers for GREEN-TECH construction jobs in the commercial building and public works sectors. Working with the Los Angeles County Workforce Investment Board, Los Angeles Community College District, Southern California Edison, and other corporate partners, openings will be filled by trainees to perform green-building construction and retrofitting work assignments such as solar panel installation, building weatherization, materials recycling, and green-building techniques.

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