NYSERDA Offshore Wind Training Institute Awards

NYSERDA will award $10 million through the Offshore Wind Training Institute (OWTI) to support training for careers in offshore wind. To date, several awards have been provided to education institutions and training providers in New York State. Learn more about the funding recipients and their offshore wind training indicatives below.

Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) - Troy, NY

To help build a strong pipeline for the Capital Region's offshore wind initiative, HVCC recently began offering a two-year associate degree in welding and fabrication and will focus student recruitment efforts on priority populations in urban and rural disadvantaged communities, providing full or partial scholarships to participants. Foundational welding skills training will be provided by the Capital Region Educational Opportunity Center, a division of HVCC with additional non-credit training and certifications will be provided at the college’s main campus. The college will also partner with regional manufacturers building turbine components to provide a skilled workforce pipeline of welders and fabricators, aiming to train 75 individuals, including 65 from priority populations and disadvantaged communities.

LaGuardia Community College (LAGCC) - Queens, NY

LAGCC is partnering with Siemens Gamesa to build an inclusive offshore wind workforce that ensures a robust local talent pipeline for the construction, repair, and maintenance of offshore wind facilities in the New York City metro area. The college will convene employers to detail the skill gaps for both new entrants to the workforce and incumbent workers in the construction trades to help inform and develop a best-in-class custom curriculum. A total of fifty low-income individuals from the Brooklyn-Queens waterfront will be trained to work as offshore wind technicians.

Capital Region BOCES

The Capital Region BOCES were awarded $1,256,900 to support training of 90 workers across three programs - Electrical, Welding, and Building Trades – to address key workforce gaps identified in collaboration with offshore wind industry employers in the Capital Region. Technical trainings specific to the offshore wind industry will target adult learners from disadvantaged or environmental justice communities and priority populations, including veterans, formerly incarcerated persons, single parents, and English Language Learners. Leveraging its experience in developing and implementing career programming that meets the needs of adult learners from various backgrounds and experiences, BOCES will recruit adults who are underemployed and/or seeking career changes and help them overcome barriers to completing its job training program.

The New York City Union Iron Workers Locals 40 and 361 (Iron Workers)

The Iron Workers were awarded $1,061,454 to train 115 New York City (NYC) iron workers on the safety requirements and skills needed to construct offshore wind projects. Funding will support the purchase of training equipment and licenses, and the training needed to certify five NYC Iron Workers as Global Wind Organisation (GWO) safety standards instructors. Those five certified instructors will then train approximately 10 cohorts of 11 members or apprentices during this grant period. The Iron workers will formally integrate these new GWO trainings with existing continuing education, apprenticeship training, and pre-apprenticeship offerings. The program will be operated by the Iron Worker’s Joint Apprenticeship Committee (JAC). The JAC of Iron Workers Locals 40 and 361 is a full-service training facility in Astoria, NY that administers the apprenticeship program for structural Iron Workers and Riggers in New York City and surrounding counties.

The New York City International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 3

Local Union 3 - International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ training departments were awarded $2.3 million, allowing them to develop and deliver trainings for offshore wind related skills. One hundred pre-apprentices and 430 journeypersons will receive career awareness training, 80 of the pre-apprentices will be placed in apprenticeship programs, all 430 journeypersons will receive offshore wind-specific technical training, and 6 of these journeypersons will be trained to become instructors. The Joint Industry Board of the Electrical Industry (JIBEI) is working with Local 3 to recruit from disadvantaged communities through their existing partnerships with Pre-Apprenticeship nonprofit organizations, such as Construction Skills, NEW (Nontraditional Employment for Women), Helmets to Hardhats, Pathways 2 Apprenticeship, and NYCHA Resident Training Academy. JIBEI has direct entry agreements with these organizations. The placement rate for qualified applicants from these direct entry programs into the JIBEI Apprentice Program is 100%.