Since President Obama’s campaign-trail promise to create 5 million new “green jobs,” there’s been a scramble among employers, job training programs, and whole business sectors to declare themselves “green,” and, therefore, worthy of federal investment. While new green-job initiatives seem to pop up each month, there are also a handful of veterans in this field, such as the city of Chicago’s Greencorps program.
For the past 15 years, Greencorps has trained low-income Chicagoans, primarily ex-offenders, to work in fields like landscaping and home-weatherization. A nine-month program funded through foundations, industry and the city, Greencorps does job training, along with social services and GED preparation, on a small scale: Just 30 to 40 people go through the program each year.
Aaron Durnbaugh, the Chicago city official who oversees the program, sounds both pleased and amused at the extent to which Greencorps is suddenly hot. I spoke with him by phone about the program’s approach – and the lessons Chicago has learned in its 15 years of experience.
How has the definition of green jobs changed since Greencorps started?
Green jobs mean a lot of things. There’s a lot of baggage, and different interpretations. The landscape industry used to be the “green” industry, even though that industry can be totally un-environmental. Meanwhile, people have been building solar panels, and trying to find ways to make cars more efficient, for a long time. There have been windmills in the Netherlands for a long time [He laughs.] The difference is: Are you looking at it as an opportunity to better the environment, and also as an issue of social equity? People like Van Jones [special advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to the White House Council on Environmental Quality] emphasize that heavily.
How do you choose trainees?
We usually get around 200 people for open houses. Then we bring in 120 for two-day tryouts. In that time, we watch a lot for teamwork. It’s all about working in your crew once you’re here. From that 120, we choose 50 and have orientation. Often, in that orientation, we do drug-testing, and that might knock a couple people out. Then we do a background check, and sex offenses or crimes against children would disqualify them. We do have folks with violence in their background in the program.
What are the results as far as your graduates getting jobs and keeping them?
We track placement after graduation, and then six months later. We haven’t yet gone back and looked at the full life cycle – the folks 10 to 15 years ago, and whether they’re employed. That’s data I would love, and we need to track it. But usually, we start with 40 trainees, graduate 35, and have 25 [in jobs] six months after.
What does Greencorps cost the city?
We get funding from so many sources: grants and foundations; the utility companies, and from the city. Our overall budget is around $2.5 million. But you can hear my hesitation when you ask about the budget. I mean, $2.5 million and we graduate 40 people? Divide that and you’re like, “Oh my god, why not just give them the money and say, ‘good luck’?” [It works out to $62,500 per trainee.] But then obviously, there are all the things we do [as far as providing services]. Last year, we weatherized 300 homes. We build community gardens. We build rain gardens.
Do trainees learn one skill or some of everything?
In the past, you sort of learned everything, because the focus was on landscaping. Now, they’ll have a few months when they get a taste of everything. Then they choose a specialization. Some will focus on community landscaping, some on arborist training, some on brownfields, and one in electronics recycling. Then we’ll have some folks who focus in weatherization.
What are the big things to keep in mind if a city wants to replicate Greencorps?
Bringing the right partners together. It’s figuring out what you’re good at, and then partnering with people who do other things. So, you may be really good at job training, or building wind- urbines, or working with at-risk youth. But a group that works with at-risk youth probably shouldn’t hire an engineer. They should partner with an organization who knows engineering. We have about 30 partners in social service agencies, and then about 100 in industries. Also, you have to make sure you’re training for where the jobs are. Where there’s work that has to happen, we have to find a way.