Brownfields Job Training and Development
Demonstration Pilot Fact Sheet

City of Winston-Salem, NC

EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $250,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $1,000,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.

PILOT SNAPSHOT

Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Date of Announcement:
December 2000

Amount: $200,000

Profile: The Pilot will train 40 residents recruited from two public housing developments located within the economically distressed Liberty Street Gateway Pilot Area. When completed, the training will enable them to have access to the environmental technical jobs created by the Airport Business Park and other redevelopment projects in the City.

BACKGROUND

EPA has selected the City of Winston-Salem for a Brownfields Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilot. The City of Winston-Salem (population 143,000) also is the recipient of a Brownfields Assessment Pilot that focuses on the City’s Liberty Street Corridor Pilot Area. Residents of this three-mile long corridor are 84% minority. The decline of tobacco and clothing manufacturing facilities in the Corridor have contributed to the economic distress of residents, who suffer from an overall unemployment rate of 12%.

The Job Training Pilot focuses on two public housing complexes within the Liberty Street Corridor. These residents are among the most economically disadvantaged residents of Winston-Salem: more than 91% live below the poverty line and the unemployment rate is 83%. However, the Brownfields Assessment Pilot has spurred the development of an Airport Business Park in close proximity to the two housing complexes. This development project will involve the clearance of 200 properties, many of which have been contaminated by past industrial activities. There is a need to provide local residents with the skills required to access the environmental jobs created by the Airport Business Park and other redevelopment projects in the City.

TRAINING OBJECTIVES

The City of Winston-Salem and its partners plan to train 40 participants, achieve an 80% placement rate, and support career placement of graduates for one year after the training is completed. Participants will be recruited from the Piedmont Park and Cleveland Avenue Homes communities. The Pilot training program will consist of an introduction to environmental media, OSHA health and safety, sampling, field measurement, field screening techniques, introduction to environmental regulations, hazardous waste management, CAD operation, and GIS operation, including training in the use of innovative assessment and cleanup technologies. Classes will be offered during the day, evening, and on weekends, as necessary.

The training efforts of the City of Winston-Salem will be supported by organizations such as the State of North Carolina, Forsyth Technical Community College, Winston-Salem State University, Wake Forest University, North Carolina A&T State, and a number of community-based organizations, financial institutions, civic groups, and private companies. A Job Training Advisory Council comprised of community representatives from a variety of private and public organizations will oversee the program. Local employers have committed to hire participants to fill environmental jobs.

ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

Conducting outreach to recruit residents from the Piedmont Park and Cleveland Avenue Homes communities located within the Liberty Street Gateway Pilot Area;
Conducting training for entry-level positions as brownfields field technicians, including courses in the use of innovative assessment and cleanup technologies; and
Supporting career placement of students for one year after the job training is completed.

CONTACTS

City of Winston-Salem
(336) 727-8040

Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 4
(404) 562-8660

Visit the EPA Region 4 Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/bf/

The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.

For further information, including specific grant contacts, additional grant information, brownfields news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site.

United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460

Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)

EPA 500-F-01-00-274
December 2000

Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)

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