For about a year, the 548 Foundation’s Clean Energy Training Program has offered 10- to 13-week courses teaching skills to help students land jobs in the state’s burgeoning solar industry.
Phil Malone (center) demonstrates how to properly load a nail gun to students in the 548 Foundation Clean Energy Training Program. Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times
On a warm spring day last month, students in a solar training program in Douglass Park learned to build a roof that could support solar panels. They wore safety glasses and fluorescent vests as they listened to their instructor. Then, they used power tools to assemble a wooden frame.
For about a year, the Chicago-based 548 Foundation’s Clean Energy Training Program has offered 10- to 13-week courses teaching skills to help students land jobs in the state’s burgeoning solar industry.
The training is geared toward people facing barriers such as limited education, low literacy and criminal records. Some are non-native English speakers or grew up in the foster system. The current cohort has 18 students aged 18 to 45, predominantly from the South and West sides. Most are men, though three are women.
One student, 26-year-old Moises Vega of Humboldt Park, learned to use a pneumatic nail gun for the first time.
The course “is giving me and a lot of people hope. Growth is capable among all of us,” Vega said, who previously worked as an electrician.
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Excerpt: It helps them earn professional certifications and prepares them for job interviews with solar and construction companies hiring in Illinois. Funding for the program comes from state grants, the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, Summit Ridge Energy and other sources.
Read more: Chicago Sun-Times, By Amy Yee.
Related Links:
- Summit Ridge Energy Powers New Clean Energy Job Training Center in Chicago & Welcomes First Graduating Class (September 20, 2023)
- Classes Begin at New Green Job Training Center in Chicago (May 2, 2023)
- Summit Ridge Energy, 548 Enterprise, and Ecademy Launch Illinois-Based Green Job Training Center (December 6, 2022)