EPA grant to fund job training programs beginning this month
A job training program, funded by a $199,970 grant obtained by Pioneer Bay Community Development Corporation, is set to begin accepting applicants in the coming days.
The program, which will focus on training locals in environmental fields, aims to help create a qualified workforce that can be tapped to address widespread pollution and redevelopment issues in Port St. Joe, particularly North Port St. Joe.
“We received a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency… It allows us to be able to give free credentials, training for six weeks in Port St. Joe,” said Krystal Hepburn,an Environmental Scientist helping to coordinate the training. “And we’re trying to make sure they’ve been trained in hazardous waste operations, cleanup, remediation, GIS surveying, things like that.”
“And then we place them into jobs right afterwards.”
There will be a mandatory orientation for applicants on January 9 at CareerSource, located at 307 Peters Street in Port St. Joe. The orientation is free and open to any applicant who is aged 18 or older.
Hepburn said CareerSource will be accepting 10 to 15 applicants for the first round of trainings, but additional rounds will be opened in the coming months.
The grant funding the job training is one of three that have been obtained by Pioneer Bay CDC from the EPA.
Pioneer Bay, a non-profit working towards North Port St. Joe’s redevelopment goals, received the first grant, a $200,000 community problem solving grant, in late 2021. It will be used to kick start a project aimed at improving unsafe housing conditions in the community.
The third grant, which was announced last summer, provides nearly half a million dollars in funding that will be used to conduct 16 phase one environmental site assessments, followed by eight phase two assessments, and the creation of eight cleanup plans.
“We’re hoping to plant our students into those efforts as well,” said Hepburn.
The training is scheduled to officially begin on January 23.
For more information about the job training program or the grants, contact Pioneer Bay CDC at 850-227-5662.
Meet the Editor
Wendy Weitzel, The Star’s digital editor, joined the news outlet in August 2021, as a reporter covering primarily Gulf County.
Prior to then, she interned for Oklahoma-based news wire service Gaylord News and for Oklahoma City-based online newspaper NonDoc.com during her four years at the University of Oklahoma, from which she graduated in May with degrees in online journalism and political science.
While at OU, Weitzel was selected as Carnegie-Knight News21 Investigative Fellow among 30 top journalism students from around the country. She also was senior editor managing a 12-person newsroom in coordination with Oklahoma Watch, a non-profit news organization in eastern Oklahoma.