WALTHAM, MA – On the heels of being awarded $1.8 million from the state Department of Labor as part of the Senator Kenneth J. Donnelly Workforce Success Grant, National Grid has announced plans to expand its successful Strategic Workforce Development Initiative, designed to upskill work-ready adults and build the clean energy workforce of tomorrow.

“We’re grateful to the Healey-Driscoll Administration for recognizing the impact National Grid has made in building a sustainable pipeline of diverse talent sourced right here in our local communities,” said Amanda Downey, Vice President of Strategy Development and Partnerships at National Grid, New England. “In our first year, National Grid’s Strategic Workforce Development Initiative has positively impacted nearly 1,000 individuals – including work-ready adults, college, high school and middle school students across Massachusetts – equipping them with the tools they need to explore and build successful energy careers.  As the program is now entering its second year, we are excited to have the additional funding to further expand our program, helping to unlock the career potential for even more people from Environmental Justice neighborhoods or historically underrepresented and marginalized communities, by providing them with career exposure, development, and employment opportunities.”

“The Healey-Driscoll Administration appreciates the collaboration with National Grid to team up with workforce partners for training, upskilling, and strengthening the skills of Massachusetts job seekers,” added Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Lauren Jones. “It is essential to engage directly with employers for workforce development planning and grantmaking to ensure our investments in training meet the needs expressed by industry as we collectively aim to build a strong talent pipeline and pursue a clean, green, and sustainable climate-ready future for the Commonwealth.”

The US energy sector has historically had below-average representation of Black, Hispanic, Latino, and women workers. In addition, the utility industry has an aging population, with roughly half of utility employees within ten years of retirement age. National Grid has partnered with academic and workforce training allies, including Community Work Services (CWS), Training Resources of America (TRA - Massachusetts) and MassHire, to develop and implement the Strategic Workforce Development Initiative, which strives to address that workplace skills and diversity gap.  The initiative includes four signature workforce development academies. This grant award will support the Energy Infrastructure Academy for work-ready adults.

“Training Resources of America in Worcester is proud to be among the organizations working with National Grid. These added funds will allow unemployed and underemployed individuals in the Energy Infrastructure Academy the opportunity for industry specific training and employment skills under the tutelage of National Grid and TRA’s partnership,” added Kim Radcliffe, President/CEO, Training Resources of America, Inc.  “As a non-profit for over 49 years, we’ve seen few and far between companies/industries that have stepped forward to make this type of commitment and investment in their community with training and employment opportunities. These awarded funds will greatly assist in further solidifying and scaling efforts to meet the need for a trained, diverse, clean energy workforce within the Greater Worcester community.”

Added Craig Stenning, Executive Director of CWS, "Community Work Services (CWS) has been at the forefront of providing pathways to employment for those who have historically encountered barriers to sustainable, livable wages for nearly 150 years in the city of Boston. As a founding partner with National Grid’s EIA, we couldn’t be prouder to continue the relationship which has yielded dozens of careers for our clients. We believe our highly effective and innovative methods of community awareness, preparation, and retention will continue to help break cycles of poverty and develop generational wealth within our communities through the career opportunities provided by National Grid."

National Grid will use the grant to expand participation in its four signature Workforce Development academies: 

About National Grid

National Grid (NYSE: NGG) is an electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery company serving more than 20 million people through our networks in New York and Massachusetts. National Grid is focused on building a smarter, stronger, cleaner energy future — transforming our networks with more reliable and resilient energy solutions to meet state climate goals and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.