First Job-Training Program Graduates Receive Certificates

APRIL 6, 1999

LOS ANGELES – The first graduates of a job-training program co-sponsored by the City of Los Angeles and the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority (ACTA) received certificates of completion Tuesday.

During an informal ceremony and reception at City Hall, graduates were congratulated by ACTA officials and members of the Los Angeles City Council. Fifteen people completed the program.

Over the next three years, ACTA will provide job training to 1,000 local residents. Also, 30 percent of the work on the largest section of the Alameda Corridor rail cargo expressway project must go to local residents, and program graduates must make up at least 30 percent of those local workers.

ACTA, the City of Los Angeles Mayor’s Office and Environmental Affairs Department collaborated on the first two sessions of the training program. Using a federal job-training grant for minorities, the City contributed $201,000 that provides participants two extra weeks of training in environmental remediation, an opportunity to attend a 51-hour environmental technologies course at Rio Hondo Community College free of charge, and job-placement services through an advisory committee of environmental contractors at the college. The money also goes toward stipends provided to participants during the 12-week training program.

Los Angeles is one of 16 cities selected as a Brownfields Showcase Community, making it eligible for federal money aimed at improving environmental cleanup. The Brownfields job-training money was provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

“This job-training program will result in a brighter future for young Angelenos by giving them greater skills and opportunity,” said Los Angeles Mayor Richard J. Riordan. “The program is a wonderful example of how redevelopment can improve neighborhoods, bring quality jobs and boost the local economy.”

City Councilman Rudy Svorinich, Jr., chairman of the ACTA Governing Board, commended the program graduates for their hard work and congratulated them on improving their futures. “The job-training program guarantees that the Alameda Corridor will leave a legacy well beyond construction of the Alameda Corridor,” Svorinich said. “ACTA is providing local residents with job skills that will last a lifetime.”

ACTA, a joint-powers authority between the cities and ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, is building a 20-mile railroad freight expressway linking the ports to the transcontinental rail yards just east of downtown Los Angeles. When completed in early-2002, the $2.4 billion project will speed the shipment of cargo and improve the flow of rail and vehicle traffic by consolidating rail lines and eliminating more than 200 street-level railroad crossings.

The Job Training and Development Program requires that the builder of the $712 million Mid-Corridor Trench – a joint venture team led by Tutor-Saliba Corp. – provide pre-apprenticeship training to 650 local residents in construction trades. Another 350 residents will receive training in non-trade work.

Graduates of the first Brownfields-funded course completed their work April 2. The second Brownfields-funded session began April 5. The courses feature classroom and on-the-job-training supervised by the Carpenters Educational and Training Institute.

Potential trainees are encouraged to call a toll-free number (1-877-435-9191) to learn about eligibility.