By GREGORY ZELLER //
Ellos hablan español … and now, they’re fluent in renewable energy technologies, too.
“Power Up! Wind, Solar & Renewables” – a workforce-development program created by United Way of Long Island and supported by National Grid Ventures, the Empire State Development Corp. and North Carolina-based Bank of America – has graduated its first-ever Spanish-speaking cohort.
In partnership with Bay Shore-based Pronto of Long Island – a nonprofit organization providing food, furniture and gently used clothing and household goods to Long Islanders in need – the five-week program included hands-on construction instruction, Occupational Safety and Health Administration training and specialized classes in building-science principles exclusively for Spanish-speaking learners, with job-placement services at the ready.
Installation tools and techniques for high-efficiency HVAC systems, the latest solar-panel technologies and electric-vehicle charging stations were all in the syllabus, along with refreshers explaining the overall benefits of renewable energy.
Felicidades: The first Spanish-speaking cohort of the “Power Up! Wind, Solar & Renewables” workforce-development program is ready to roll.
More than 120 people applied for the first “Power Up! Wind, Solar & Renewables” Spanish-speaking cohort, with 32 selected to participate and 27 ultimately completing the month-plus course. Since launching in 2022, the workforce-development program has now graduated nearly 300 learners, with 60 percent landing jobs in the energy industries – many via connections made through the “Power Up!” effort, according to United Way of Long Island.
Cohort graduate and construction-industry veteran Manuel Muniz, already a front-line construction foreman, said his new renewable-energy comprehension both lengthens and deepens his professional expertise.
“I’ve been in the construction trade for 19 years,” Muniz noted. “I didn’t know what to expect from the program, [but] the knowledge that I gained was invaluable.”
Theresa Regnante: Removing language barriers.
Further cohorts for both Spanish- and English-speaking learners are on the way, and not a moment too soon. The national energy workforce added more than 300,000 jobs in 2022, the latest year measured by the U.S. Department of Energy, while New York State is expecting to add 10,000 new jobs – in the offshore-wind industry alone – over the next five years.
Noting an inexorable link between this rapid evolution of the clean-energy industries and community service, United Way of Long Island President and CEO Theresa Regnante applauded the first Spanish-speaking cohort and the program partners who supported the new graduates.
“Your language is your gateway,” Regnante said Tuesday. “Investing in a program that connects Spanish-speakers with training, networking and mentorship opportunities – and employer/job connections – is not only the right thing but also the smart thing.
“[It] addresses these communities’ energy and employment needs while also protecting the environment,” the CEO added.
