EPA selects Limitless Vistas to provide environmental job training in New Orleans
DALLAS - (March 19, 2021) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced the selection of Limitless Vistas Inc. (LVI) to receive $200,000 in grant funding for environmental job training in the Greater New Orleans area in Louisiana. EPA is committed to advancing job training and workforce development. The initiative will help advance economic opportunities and address environmental justice (EJ) issues in underserved communities.
"This organization has a rich history of partnering with EPA to make outstanding efforts in training future environmental professionals," said EPA Acting Regional Administrator David Gray. "The grant awarded today is another step forward in bringing a critical investment for the Greater New Orleans area."
"LVI has maintained that the best way to fight the pervasive issues of environmental justice and build capacity in our underrepresented communities is to provide environmental awareness and job skills training to residents. Now, in the shadow of COVID and its disproportionate impact on the very same communities, it is more important than ever," said Patrick Barnes, Founder and President of LVI's Board of Directors. "EPA has long seen the connection between workforce development and addressing systemic EJ issues. We are truly honored to be among the EWDJT grantees this year and look forward to providing environmental job skills training and key credentials to our greater New Orleans youth and veterans."
Limitless Vistas Inc. plans to train 60 students in environmental jobs. The students will receive two state and four federal certifications. The program is targeted to empower the underserved and veterans from the area. EPA regularly provides funding to organizations that are working to create a skilled workforce in communities where EPA brownfields assessment and cleanup activities are taking place.
Nationally, EPA funded 18 organizations to receive a total of $3.3 million in grants for environmental job training programs. The program is funded through the Agency's Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training (EWDJT) Program. Since 1998, the Agency's EWDJT Program has awarded more than 335 grants. With these grants, 18,541 individuals have been trained and 13,751 have been placed in careers related to land remediation and environmental health and safety, with an average hourly wage of over $14.
For more information on the selected Brownfields EWDJT grant recipients, including past grantees, please visit: https://cfpub.epa.gov/bf_factsheets/index.cfm?grant_type_id=1003&grant_announcement_year=2018
For more information on this, and other types of Brownfields grants, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/environmental-workforce-development-and-job-training-ewdjt-grants
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