Latest news with #CommunityWorks
Hindustan Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Industrial push: Delhi govt plans in-house management unit
The Delhi government plans to set up a dedicated project management unit (PMU) under its industries department to serve as an in-house wing focussed on enhancing the efficiency and implementation of its industrial projects, officials familiar with the government's plan said on Wednesday. The new unit, with a proposed cost of ₹12 crore over three years, will operate under the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC), the nodal agency responsible for industrial development in the city, the people cited above said. According to officials familiar with the plan, the PMU will offer end-to-end advisory and operational support to DSIIDC. It will focus on executing e-auctions for vacant industrial plots, optimizing the use of unused commercial assets such as shops, godowns, guest houses, and administrative buildings, and supporting the establishment of strategic projects like co-working spaces, Global Capability Centres, and a Data Centre Park. The government has already floated a request for proposal to select an agency for setting up and running the unit. The unit will be run by an agency duly engaged by DSIIDC. The structure of the unit has not yet been finalised. The PMU will also be tasked with assisting DSIIDC in allocating flats at flatted factory complexes to startups through private operators and redeveloping Community Works Centres across the city. An official said the unit will identify and evaluate DSIIDC projects for feasibility based on cost, revenue potential, and scale, conduct technical and financial assessments, define performance metrics, and structure contracts. It will also recommend corrective measures for underperforming projects and suggest improved models for ongoing ones by incorporating lessons from past experiences. Additionally, the PMU will conduct feasibility studies for public-private partnership (PPP) based models, define roles for private partners, and develop standardised templates for concessionaire agreements, one of the people cited above said. 'It will also prepare draft RFPs, design monitoring frameworks, and build real-time dashboards to track project implementation and performance,' the official added. The initiative is aimed at streamlining the DSIIDC's functioning, reducing delays, and maximising returns from the government's industrial infrastructure assets.
Chicago Tribune
17-04-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Clean energy job program offers career options in Lake County; ‘The program was a blessing for me'
Richard Martinez-Messner of Waukegan concedes he has made some regrettable decisions in the past, but late last year — jobless with little more than some clothes to his name — he decided he was going to make the necessary changes to live a productive life. Walking into the offices of the Job Center of Lake County two weeks after his release from the Lake County jail, his life changed quickly. Martinez-Messner learned of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) Waukegan Hub clean energy jobs training program. Completing the initial training as part of the first CEJA cohort of future clean energy workers in January, Martinez-Messner undertook advanced training as a building inspector. As he looked for a permanent job, Lake County Workforce Development offered him one within the CEJA plan. 'I jumped on it,' Martinez-Messner, 37, said. 'The program was a blessing for me. It was a paid training program that really helped. I walked out of jail on Christmas Eve with little more than the clothes on my back.' He was one of 13 members of the first CEJA Waukegan Hub cohort, which started its monthlong training on Jan. 6 in Waukegan, in pursuit of clean energy jobs and who are currently taking advanced courses or are part of the workforce helping the environment. Conceived in 2021 when Gov. JB Pritzker signed CEJA into law, Waukegan was designated one of 13 hubs in the state less than two years ago. Lake County Workforce Development, the College of Lake County and Community Works joined forces in August, receiving $4 million in grants. 'Each of us has our own strengths,' Richard Ammon, the college's executive director of workforce initiatives, said. Ammon said the school's $3.5 million portion of the grant will hopefully be replicated in the next two years. Yvette Ewing, the founder of Community Works, said she uses the resources of her facility for training, but she also recruits people for the program in a variety of ways. Workforce Development trains participants in basic skills of job-hunting and thriving in the workplace. Though some participants have tools to enter the workforce with a green job — some members of the first three cohorts are already in their new careers — Ammon said advanced training comes from the college teaching skills in electric vehicle maintenance, HVAC and home inspection. Designed to last four weeks, Ammon said all participants learn basic employment skills like being part of a team, communicating in the workplace, safety, CPR, basic first aid and a lot of emphasis on green energy workplaces. 'They'll learn basic construction skills, like using power tools and measuring tools, electric wiring like how to run conduit,' he said. 'The Bridge Program lays the foundation for clean energy jobs.' Community Works' responsibility is recruiting participants. Ewing said she is a navigator, working throughout the area at events and by invitation, letting people know about the CEJA Hub and what it offers. It not only puts people in green jobs, but also careers that provide a good lifestyle. Much of the work of the Bridge Program takes place at her facility. 'We help people remove barriers,' Ewing said. 'We help them upskill themselves. We can teach basic construction skills here. The older people teach the younger, and the younger people teach the older people some things, too. They also see people who look like them.' Martinez-Messner said he is working closely with the introductory or Bridge Program. He will teach it to either the May or June cohort. His days of making unwise decisions — often, he said, influenced by alcohol or other substances — are over. 'I'm helping people get jobs, and helping people not be in the place I was in,' he said. 'If you want to keep what you have, you have to give it away (to others). I want to help other people do well.' Though some people like Martinez-Messner are ready for a full-time 'upskilled' job, others like William Gist, 43, of Round Lake, another member of the first cohort, want to learn a new green skill. He is now enrolled in a three-semester program to learn how to work with electric vehicles. Previously a boxing coach, independent personal trainer and taking other jobs to pay his bills, Gist said he was drawn to the CEJA Hub because he wanted a career with a future. He likes working with engines, and was drawn to the electric vehicle program. 'I knew I didn't want a warehouse career,' he said. 'I like working with my hands. I've worked on motorcycles and am pretty good at it. I also knew I didn't want to be on a roof. This will make the world better for my children and grandchildren,' he added, saying he will help reduce the area's carbon footprint. So far, Ammon said 37 people have completed the first three cohorts, and eight more are in the fourth which finishes at the end of April. The other hubs are in Alton, Aurora, Carbondale, Champaign, Chicago's South Side, Chicago's Southwest and West sides, Danville, Decatur, East St. Louis, Joliet, Peoria and Rockford.
