University of Tennessee wins funding for green jobs initiative

University of Tennessee at Knoxville

 

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Ayers Hall at the University of Tennessee.

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Credit: University of Tennessee

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has been awarded a $750,000 grant for East Tennessee Works, a regional green jobs initiative led by the university and focused on Knoxville’s inner-city and rural Southern Appalachian communities.

An interdisciplinary team from UT is one of six groups nationwide receiving funding in the Jobs for the Future Quality Green Jobs Regional Challenge. The university is working with community partners, industry, labor organizations and other educational institutions to train and support job seekers in advanced manufacturing and green construction.

Over the next three years, East Tennessee Works intends to place 5,000 East Tennesseans on the path to good jobs in the green economy, with a flexible, scalable approach. The team will be led by Sociology Professor Jon Shefner, along with Stephanie Bohon, head of the Department of Sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Associate Professor Mitsunori Misawa from the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences.

The grant will allow UT to act as a labor market intermediary, connecting employers, workers, training programs, labor organizations and community-based groups offering essential services like transportation and childcare.

The grant builds on ongoing efforts to integrate academic excellence with community service to prepare students and local residents for the high-demand jobs of today and tomorrow.

“We will be funding many of these organizations that provide these services,” said Shefner. “We’ll be bringing them together in ways that help recruit potential workers, and we will be reaching out to industry to find out what their hiring possibilities are, their specific needs and how to bring them together with the newly trained, newly skilled folks.”

Filling Job Demand

East Tennessee Works will focus on underrepresented workers in the green economy and address the growing demand for skilled labor as job roles evolve.

According to Shefner, many individuals are either underemployed, working multiple low-paying jobs or not fully utilizing their skills. With proper training, they can transition into positions that offer $30 or more per hour, with benefits and opportunities for advancement, he added.

The university has been working with organizations in Knox, Anderson, and Campbell counties, including TELOS Global, a manufacturer in Caryville, Tennessee, that provides parts for electric vehicles; Socially Equal Energy Efficient Development, a nonprofit in East Knoxville that provides career training and is building energy-efficient homes for low-income families; Community Organizations Networking Neighborhoods Encouraging Change Together Ministries; and a local labor council of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations.

Knoxville’s Green Economy Booming

East Tennessee Works will prioritize green jobs, targeting companies that reduce their ecological footprint, produce components for electric vehicles, install solar panels and construct energy-efficient buildings.

According to Shefner, the Brookings Institution identified Knoxville as one of the largest and fastest-growing areas for the green economy more than a decade ago, and the green construction world is set to explode. He added that Black and rural communities have been underrepresented, and this initiative is aimed at providing equitable access to training.

This is the final round of funding under the Jobs for the Future Quality Green Jobs Regional Challenge, which the Ares Charitable Foundation funds through Climate-Resilient Employees for a Sustainable Tomorrow. This program is a five-year, $25 million initiative that seeks to close the gap between employer demand for a skilled green workforce and the number of people ready for these opportunities to help advance economic mobility.

“These recipients embody the forward-thinking solutions we need when it comes to addressing the dual challenges of climate change and economic inequality,” said Taj Eldridge, managing director for climate innovation at JFFLabs. “We’re proud to support these organizations as they create new opportunities for their communities and develop solutions that contribute to a more sustainable and equitable future.”