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St. Nicks Alliance

Kings County

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With Help from NYSERDA, New Yorkers Prepare for Clean Energy Jobs with Specialized Training in Heat Pumps and Green Construction

St. Nicks Alliance helps qualified people who need competitive job skills get the training and certifications needed for clean energy jobs in New York City.

St. Nicks Alliance helps transform the lives of people. It offers skills training, employment and educational opportunities, housing, and health care to those who may be struggling financially or experiencing a life transition.

The organization approaches barriers to change with well-thought-out strategies in a variety of focus areas, including workforce development, which offers the in-demand skills, training, and credentials needed to secure high-wage career-track jobs.

The St. Nicks Alliance workforce development team also helps participants find that first job, obtain a high school diploma, or master English. Annually over 1,000 adults and young adults are hired into living-wage jobs or receive advanced education.

Training Location:

Brooklyn, NY

NYSERDA Program:

Workforce Development and Training

People trained:

56

On-Track-to-HVAC Training Program

In a recent partnership with subcontractor Solar One, and with support from NYSERDA, St. Nicks successfully trained 56 individuals. Participants took an 8-week, 230-hour credentialed, employer-linked, comprehensive training program called On-Track-to-HVAC (OT2HVAC), over four training cohorts.

The program combined transferable skill sets with hands-on training in high-efficiency HVAC, including heat pumps. Training also included job readiness training prior to and concurrent with each hard-skills training cohort, along with industry guest speakers, HVAC manufacturer and employer site visits, and other site-specific trips.

Training Curriculum and Certifications

The OT2HVAC curriculum included:

  • Green Construction
    • Carpentry
    • Electrical
    • Plumbing
  • Green Building Operations and Management
    • Building Science
    • GBOM – Heating Systems
    • HVAC and Heat Pumps

After completing the OT2HVAC training program, participants earned certifications that included:

  • OSHA 30
  • NYC Dept. of Buildings Site Safety
  • EPA 608 Level I (Small appliance)
  • GPRO (Green Professional Training) Mechanical
  • FDNY F-60 Fireguard (optional)
  • G-60 Torch Operator (optional)

St. Nicks Alliance provided job placement assistance, job retention, and follow-up services to all 56 program participants who completed the training. Of those trained, 4 were hired into apprenticeship programs, and 43 were hired into full-time jobs.

To find out more about St. Nicks Alliance, contact Larry Rothchild, Senior Managing Director, Workforce Development, at [email protected] or (718)302-2057 ext. 416.

People in hard hats and safety vests sitting on benches watching a presenter holding a harness. People in hard hats and safety vests sitting on benches watching a presenter holding a harness.

A workforce training session. Source: Getty Images.

Two people in blue shirts looking at a data pad. Two people in blue shirts looking at a data pad.

Student training. Source: Getty Images.

Ready to Learn More?

NYSERDA can fund your clean energy training program and also offers hiring support programs that can fund internships and on-the-job training for new clean energy workers.

Visit NYSERDA’s Workforce Training and Development Opportunities site, or contact NYSERDA at [email protected].