News

E-Contractor Academy, Spring 2014 Cohort

Posted

The word is out. Over 70 small, women and minority-owned contractors signed up for EC-LA’s second class of its e-contractor academy.  This is almost a 100% increase over the first class this past fall.  People show up when money is at stake.  The contractors are preparing to compete for the enormous pipeline of energy efficiency work in southern California.  This includes LA County’s  $25 million zero net energy projects, the California Public Utility Commission’s Southern California Regional Energy Network (SoCalREN) projects, and over $90 million of school retrofit projects from Prop.39 for this year alone.   Not only are participants learning to upgrade lighting and mechanical systems, and solar rooftop installations on its buildings, but just as importantly, the are learning the details of the public bidding process and how to comply with local hiring, wage certification and other responsible contractor practices.
 
The E-Contractor Academy sponsored by Citi Community Development (Citibank) and a workforce development strategy rooted in a direct pipeline to union apprenticeship.
Read more.