The Northwest Area Foundation and the City of St. Paul Partner to Boost Flow of Apprentices into the Local Construction Trades

ST. PAUL, Minn. (March 9, 2006) – The Northwest Area Foundation today committed a $150,000 challenge grant to help the City of St. Paul and local partners boost the pipeline of people prepared to enter the construction trades locally.  Funds will seed the Apprenticeship Opportunity Pilot Project (AOPP).   The city must raise a balance of $80,000 to launch the initiative.
AOPP will provide opportunity for people to enter living-wage, career-ladder jobs in St. Paul and the surrounding area.  AOPP will benefit people faced with poverty, historically low-wages, and diminished access to working in the construction trades.

AOPP is designed to strengthen bonds between existing programs and to strengthen public sector policies that advance the utilization of apprentices on construction projects.  AOPP resources, time and money, will be used support:
• Dedicated staff to conduct outreach and make referrals to existing programs
• Dedicated staff  to mentor people placed on construction sites
• Data collection on apprentices across programs
• The exchange of information and ideas across programs
    
AOPP also includes a policy objective to have the City of St. Paul enact a utilization requirement to employ apprentices on construction projects receiving public sector funds. 

This initiative got started when the Northwest Area Foundation sponsored the travel of eight local representatives to Seattle, Washington where that city operates a successful apprenticeship program. This group included representatives from the City of St. Paul, Saint Paul City Council, Ramsey County, St. Paul Building Trades, The YWCA St. Paul, the St. Paul NAACP, Saint Paul College and the Northwest Area Foundation. 

The Northwest Area Foundation is dedicated to helping communities reduce poverty for the long term.  It does this by identifying, sharing and advocating for practical strategies and tools developed or gathered from its programs, and from the work of other communities and organizations.  The Foundation provides financial resources and technical assistance that help communities create a climate and build the capabilities to achieve: asset identification and development; expanded economic opportunities that create living-wage jobs; increased community skills for planning, teaching, leading and implementing poverty reduction initiatives; and decision making that incorporates the voice and vote of broad segments of the community, including those of people in poverty. 

The Foundation works on strategic efforts with a small number of rural, urban, and American Indian reservation communities, and organizations supporting these efforts, in its eight-state region: Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.  These states were served by the Great Northern Railway, founded by James J. Hill.  In 1934, Hill’s son, Louis W. Hill established the foundation.  Since 1999, the Foundation has invested about $150 million to support its programs.  It expects to invest at least another $50 million within the next three years.  For additional information, visit www.nwaf.org or call 651-224-9635.

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