Apprenticeship and Pre-apprenticeship Clean Energy Training

NYSERDA seeks to grow a diverse, equitable, and inclusive pipeline of skilled talent for the clean energy labor market through funding for pre-apprenticeship, registered apprenticeship, and journey worker training programs. Projects must create and/or expand capacity of Direct Entry Pre-apprenticeship, Registered Apprenticeship, and journey worker training programs as pathways to high-quality, family-supporting jobs. Eligible initiatives must include clean energy technical training in target areas (developing new or expanding existing clean energy training capacity) and hands-on experience for pre-apprentices, apprentices, and/or journey workers. Training areas include: (1) Building decarbonization and energy efficiency technologies and practices to support decarbonization; (2) renewable energy generation, interconnection, transmission, distribution, and storage; and (3) electric vehicle charging station installation and repair. Eligible training initiatives include curriculum development; technical training for program expansion; train-the-trainer training on new content; equipment purchases for hands-on training, virtual reality training, and mobile training labs; pre-apprenticeship, apprenticeship and/or journey worker training; mentorship programs for new workers; and K-12 career awareness and outreach programs. NYSERDA may also fund reasonable costs for stipends and supportive services (e.g., care coordination, transportation, child support services, mental health counseling) for pre-apprentices and first-year apprentices with barriers to employment and training after all other sources have been exhausted. This solicitation represents an initial offering of a larger investment of approximately $45 million to train thousands of pre-apprentices, apprentices, and journey workers over three years. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis with multiple rounds of funding.