CITY-COUNTY ADVISORY BOARD ON CLIMATE AND ECONOMIC EQUITY

200 E. Wells Street City of Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202 Meeting Minutes CITY-COUNTY TASK FORCE ON CLIMATE AND ECONOMIC EQUITY Ald. Nik Kovac and Marcelia Nicholson, Co-Chairs Pam Fendt, Linda Frank, Julie Kerksick, Ted Kraig, Janet Meissner Pritchard, Supreme Moore Omokunde, Pamela Ritger, Erick Shambarger, and Rafael Smith Staff Assistant: Linda Elmer, lelmer@milwaukee.gov, 414-286-2231 Legislative Liason: Luke Knapp, luke.knapp@milwaukee.gov, 414-286-8637 Google documents for this body can be found at : http://bit.ly/CCTFCEE Friday, April 2, 2021 2:00 PM Virtual Jobs and Equity Work Group https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84476780210 1. Roll Call Start at 2:05 PM Present: 1. Ted Wilinski 2. Rafael Smith 3. Larry Hoffman 4. Julie, Community advocates 5. Pam Fendt 6. Richard Diaz 7. Robert Kraig 8. Aneyhsa Bhat 9. Kimya Green 10. Supreme Moore Omokunde 11. Joe Fitzgerald 2. Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes Minutes approved - TW mentioned, Larry H had a question 3. Update on Green Jobs Mapping Aneysha Bhat - Green Jobs Pathway Update: City of Milwaukee Page 1 CITY-COUNTY TASK FORCE ON Meeting Minutes April 2, 2021 CLIMATE AND ECONOMIC EQUITY Progress so far ● Several interviews were done, more schedules ● Gave overview slide (detailed) ● Showed DOE Green Bld and Solar Map ● Will conduct a gap analysis specific to energy efficiency - eg need to vet HVAC and solar training. ● Gave some examples ● Goals: ● Integrate into a website, ● Accessible on multiple platforms Draft table: This table and other information are in process of review by those Aneysha interviewed. Plus, Aneysha will be adding information from others still to be interviewed. Discussion: ● Should equity be reflected on this pathway map? A question raised by Robert Kraig ○ Julie and Aneysha felt that would complicate it. ● This development of this is being systematically done ● There has not been push back on people participating but some entities have not responded ● Are EE training focused on the City of Milwaukee - Aneysha - Yes, because being done for the City of MKE ECO. ● PPT will be sent to Rafael and he will share it with all. ● Supreme Moore - when will equity piece be injected? ○ Julie, in the specific goal-setting that comes out of our workgroup and monitoring. ○ Supreme Moore - Maybe those goals could be stated at the front end. ● Richard Diaz - maybe include pay in the data, also will there be an analysis on the barriers? ○ Aneysha said that she is intending to add a column on pay to the above table. ● This is for green jobs in the energy sector. ● Joe Fitzgerald - for data tracking getting equity in soon could be important from work he has done in the water sector. ● Kimya Green - wonders about the biases of the people using these charts. ○ Julie - we all carry biases. Hopes that people seeing or using the chart get excited about the chart and uses it to help those they work with. ● Robert Kraig - This is a snapshot of the green jobs today. Is there research on what the green job’s workspace going to look like in the future, say 10 years or more? ○ Aneysha - That is important but for now, this is a look at what is today and will be added to overtime. ● Supreme Moore - People tend to want to see what the data shows, what data City of Milwaukee Page 2 CITY-COUNTY TASK FORCE ON Meeting Minutes April 2, 2021 CLIMATE AND ECONOMIC EQUITY should we be focusing on for understanding this. ○ Aneysha - will send out some data. ○ Supreme - How do we ask the right questions? ○ Aneysha - Data exists and can influence the questions as we ask them. ● Ted Wilinski - Are more employers included, especially the commercial entities (such as JCI, larger contractors) ○ Aneysha - would like to get more employers interviewed ● Pam Fendt - Should include a listing of employers in this area ○ Has been involved with fail attempts of training people for non-existing or limited jobs. ○ Have to make sure that workers are from the area. ● Pam Goal of equity in employment is baked in. Aneysha is not doing the whole plan,. She is doing the data collection. The process we laid out was 1) list the various careers that help decrease greenhouse gas. 2) document what are the entry points and training requirements/ where are the places to get that training 3) Assess the current workforce and the projected need (job openings per year) 4) share information with all partners and entities working to further the equity goals of this plan so that we can get the employment outcomes we are seeking. ● I agree we need to create an Employer listing that corresponds to the occupations. That has not really been done yet, but would be a good addition to our project. ● Pam discussed how the last 3 major solar projects did not create jobs for local workers. ● Robert I think it would be good in the final report to provide Pam's cautionary examples, and to offer solutions. This helps cut against the magical thinking that green investments naturally lead to jobs without interventions ● Ted Another example is that MATC developed a sustainable facilities operations program back in 2009 and that program after a few years could not attract students because the jobs that industry was telling us there were did not materialize ● Supreme Moore - Important to seek contractors and companies that are in WI which could require a legislative answer. ● Kimya It would be nice to understand from the employers HOW to best incentivize the hiring aspect for them. ● Pam one program that DOT uses is called TRANS. Transportation alliance for new solutions. It is an entry-level training to get new people in highway construction. And then DOT subsidizes $5 of the new workers wages for a certain amount of time, so hiring new people has less financial risk for the company. ● Kimya I think the TRANS example is exactly what I think of, especially when we speak about smaller employers that “may” be more interested in hiring more diverse candidates ● Julie Does anyone train for Energy Auditor in WI? Ted Wilinski teaches it at MATC. Also Focus on Energy offers it occasionally. ● Ken EV charging stations, the proposal in the Biden infrastructure plan would create great opportunities – Ken provided numbers on the investments. Reiterates the upcoming demand for electricians. ● Kimya mentioned that all federal buildings are under Biden control, and could be sites of retrofit and jobs ● Julie discussed the massive and exciting infrastructure bill announced by Biden administration, including lead lateral infrastructure funding. Moore and Baldwin are key sponsors of a community service jobs proposal, this could provide wage subsidies to those who are in green jobs training, or wage subsidies to employers to hire new people. Could be a major driver in creating opportunity for new workers. ● Ted said and providing internships while training / in school is incredibly important for creating long term employment City of Milwaukee Page 3 CITY-COUNTY TASK FORCE ON Meeting Minutes April 2, 2021 CLIMATE AND ECONOMIC EQUITY ● Employer input is paramount. City of Milwaukee Energy Office has done focus groups with employers in the past. Pam will ask Erick if it is a good time to do it again. Work Group would like to hear from them about their work and their projections for the future, and ideas they have about getting new people in the workforce. ● Julie - Who in the state is training on energy auditing? Also, to pay for training to push from the federal stimulus. ○ MATC has been teaching Energy Auditing for 12 years now. ○ Also, WAEE, Focus On Energy conduct training ○ UWM has the IAC, Industrial Assessment Center that trains university students Rafael Smith - proposing a sub-group: Kimya, Richard Diaz, Pam, Larry Hoffman, and others. - Sorry did not catch all the names or the exact purpose of the sub-group. Julie - There will be federal money coming that will be addressing many of the things that this workgroup is concerned with. A window will be opening up in the coming months. One area is subsidized employment as promoted by Congressperson Gwen Moore. Rafael - need to get a focus group on connecting with employers for the pathway. Pam will reach out to Erick Shambargerand see if the city would do a focus group of contractors for the green jobs pathway. Then Aneysha could conduct interviews. Note: Pam Fendt's comments in italics. 4. Brainstorming Potential/Shovel Ready Projects 5. Agenda Items for Next Meeting End at 4:00 PM City of Milwaukee Page 4