Remarks: “Blue in Green” Green Jobs Grant Application Announcement

October 7, 2009

 

Thank you, Jim Hunt. And thanks to Conny Doty and your staff for doing a great job on this grant proposal. It’s always great to be at the state-of-the-art Mattapan Library. Together, we’ve built up Blue Hill Avenue. Together, we are going to green it. 

 

An important part of our progressive agenda for Boston is capturing the economic benefits of green technology. And making them available to all of our residents. We can only achieve this goal if we invite all Bostonians into this process, and empower them to seize new opportunities.

 

That’s why the City applied for a $4 million grant from the Federal Government to train residents along the Blue Hill Ave Corridor for green jobs. 

 

If Boston is going to continue competing at the highest levels, we cannot leave people out. That’s why our plan calls for focusing on people who are unemployed or have barriers to employment. Maybe they need to update their job skills. Or maybe they are a few credits short of a high school degree. Either way, I want to help them gain the job skills they need. 

 

This job training grant is so important, because I want the green jobs we are creating to go to neighborhood residents. Boston was recently awarded $6.5 million that will create over 100 green jobs while making our homes, small businesses, and city buildings more energy efficient. 

 

While our innovative grant proposal is finished, there’s more work to do. I need your help to convince Labor Secretary Solis that our proposal for Blue Hill Ave deserves to be funded. Please fill out a postcard and we’ll send it to Washington. We need you to join us in fighting for these job training resources. Let the voice of Blue Hill Ave be heard on the streets of our nation’s capital. 

 

This is not our first step on green jobs. We’ve awarded $75 thousand in green job training to the Asian American Civic Association. We’re working with employers, like Next Step Living, so there are real jobs at the end of the training. And we created over 500 green jobs for young people this past summer. 

 

I want to thank all the grant partners who are here today, the employers and the job trainers. 

 

Working together, we can create a greener city built with good jobs paying good wages that is a healthier place to live for Boston’s families. Thank you.

 

-Mayor Tom Menino