Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs_FOA-ETA-23-31.pdf

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

ANNOUNCEMENT FOR: DOL Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant Program

ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE: Initial

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NUMBER: FOA-ETA-23-31

CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE (CFDA) NUMBER: 17.268

KEY DATES: The closing date for receipt of applications under this Announcement is 07/07/2023. We must receive applications no later than 11:59 pm Eastern Time.

Submit all applications in response to this solicitation through https://www.grants.gov. For complete application and submission information, including online application instructions, please refer to Section IV.

This FOA has two closing dates. We must receive your application by 7/7/2023 to be considered for Round 1. Round 2 will open on 3/15/2024 and we must receive your application by 6/14/24 to be considered for Round 2. See Section II. Award Information for more information on Rounds 1 and 2.

A pre-recorded Prospective Applicant Webinar and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document will be available at: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/grants/apply/find-opportunities.

https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/grants/apply/find-opportunities https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/grants/apply/find-opportunities

Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. PROGRAM PURPOSE

B. PROGRAM AUTHORITY

C. TARGET INDUSTRIES AND OCCUPATIONS

D. GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE

E. PROGRAM DESIGN AND ALLOWABLE ACTIVITIES

II. AWARD INFORMATION

A. AWARD TYPE AND AMOUNT

B. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

B. COST SHARING OR MATCHING

C. OTHER INFORMATION

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

A. HOW TO OBTAIN AN APPLICATION PACKAGE

B. CONTENT AND FORM OF APPLICATION SUBMISSION

C. SUBMISSION DATE, TIME, PROCESS AND ADDRESS

D. INTERGOVERNMENTAL REVIEW

E. FUNDING RESTRICTIONS

F. OTHER SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

V. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

A. CRITERIA

B. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

VI. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

A. AWARD NOTICES

B. ADMINISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS

C. REPORTING

VII. AGENCY CONTACTS

VIII. OTHER INFORMATION

A. WEB-BASED RESOURCES

B. INDUSTRY COMPETENCY MODELS AND CAREER CLUSTERS

C. WORKFORCEGPS RESOURCES

D. SKILLSCOMMONS RESOURCES

IX. OMB INFORMATION COLLECTION

APPENDIX A: H-1B INDUSTRIES AND OCCUPATIONS

APPENDIX B: SUGGESTED PERFORMANCE OUTCOME MEASURES AND

TRACKING INDICATORS TABLE

APPENDIX C: SUGGESTED PROJECT WORK PLAN TABLE

APPENDIX D: SUGGESTED ABSTRACT FORMAT

APPENDIX E: KEY DEFINITIONS

APPENDIX F: ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

END NOTES

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL, or the Department, or we), announces the availability of approximately $80,000,000 in grant funds authorized by the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 (ACWIA), as amended (codified at 29 USC 3224a) for the DOL Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant Program. Pending availability of funds, we intend to make approximately $200,000,000 total available over the multiple competitive rounds of funding for this DOL Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant Program.

Purpose and Objectives The DOL Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant Program will invest in public-private partnerships to develop, implement, and scale worker-centered sector strategy training programs in H-1B industries and occupations critical to meeting the goals of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), formally known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Pub. L. No.

117-58. The United States (U.S.) will need a skilled workforce to fill the good-paying jobs created by the BIL’s historic investment—along with the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act, Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and American Rescue Plan. To maximize the impact of the BIL investment, this grant program will train job seekers in advanced manufacturing; information technology; and professional, scientific, and technical services occupations that support renewable energy, transportation, and broadband infrastructure sectors. These include occupations in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors;

broadband expansion and smart city grids; and electrical, industrial, and civil engineers and technicians who facilitate the design, construction, modernization, and maintenance of the nation’s infrastructure (See Section I.A. for further detail on possible training occupations and Appendix E for specific definitions). The DOL Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant Program represents a down payment to meet the future skilled workforce needs for implementation of the BIL by investing in workforce partnerships that build equitable pathways to good infrastructure jobs. This grant program aims to develop and diversify the talent pipeline necessary to support the infrastructure sectors.

The DOL Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant Program requires worker-centered sector strategies driven by strong and diverse partnerships of public and private sector entities to promote systems change and empower workers based on equity, skills, and innovation.

Applicants must propose program models that are driven both by industry needs and worker voice. This means convening workers, unions and other worker organizations, and employers as industry experts to build committed partnerships with workforce development entities, community-based organizations, and training institutions. These partnerships will design quality training and work-based learning opportunities that support the renewable energy, transportation, and broadband infrastructure sectors.

As part of the overarching framework for this grant program, applicants will develop strong sector partnerships to design training and employment programs that are responsive to local and regional infrastructure sector demands in the proposed grant service area. As job growth and workforce needs fluctuate due to the social, economic, and technological factors of the evolving infrastructure sector, applicants are expected to utilize relevant labor market information (LMI) in a rapid and responsive manner, on an ongoing basis, to understand current and near-term infrastructure workforce needs with respect to in-demand occupations, skills, and credentials.

Additionally, as the BIL investments are dispersed nationally over the next five years, awarded grantees must ensure their sector partnerships maintain awareness of these investments within their service areas and remain agile enough to develop the pipeline of skilled workers to rapidly support and leverage infrastructure sector job openings to facilitate quality job placements for the participants of these grants. To this end, awarded grantees must be able to regularly reassess labor market trends in the local and regional areas served by the proposed program to adjust to changing local and regional demand as a result of BIL investments. This will require strong sector partnerships that have timely and consistent feedback loops with key industry employer partners. Applicants should develop innovative, agile, short-term and long-term strategies to ensure they have the capacity and flexibility to effectively respond to changing local and regional demand through various phases of infrastructure projects.

Program Tracks

Applicants must choose one of the following tracks for this grant program: 1) Development Track: Developing and Implementing Local/Regional Worker-Centered Sector Strategy Programs; or 2) Scaling Track: Scaling Effective Worker-Centered Sector Strategy Programs.

Development Track The goal of the Development Track is to establish local and regional partnerships that will develop and implement worker-centered sector strategy training programs in one or more infrastructure-related sectors. Applicants are expected to use evidence-based training strategies such as Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs) and other recognized work and learn approaches (See Appendix E Key Definitions). Additionally, applicants may propose to implement innovative, otherwise unproven strategies and approaches to recruitment, education and training, and partnership development that support or complement the evidence-based strategies to further inform promising sector strategy models. The Development Track will target populations in smaller and/or rural communities, as well as historically marginalized, underrepresented, and underserved populations.

Scaling Track The goal of the Scaling Track is to invest in established partnerships that have demonstrated evidence of effectiveness in implementing a sector strategy training program in one or more infrastructure-related sectors. This demonstrated effectiveness should include supporting data that shows employment outcomes, wage progression, and other evidence of sector training program achievement. Applicants will broaden the geographic scope of their existing effective sector strategy training program and incorporate worker-centered sector strategies. This track requires project designs which utilize evidence-based training models (See Appendix E Key Definitions). Additionally, the Scaling Track will ensure that expansion efforts specifically target those populations that have historically been marginalized, underrepresented, and underserved within the identified sectors and communities.

Partnerships Both tracks require public-private partnerships to develop worker-centered sector strategies that incorporate the following core principles into their grant project design: 1) strategies for ensuring diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, both through the inclusion of targeted partners that are primarily minority-serving (such as institutions of higher education, community-based partnerships, and employer partners), as well as by prioritizing recruitment, training, and retention of a local workforce that is representative of the local community demographics, in particular historically marginalized, underserved, and underrepresented populations; 2) career pathways that lead to middle- to high-skilled employment; and 3) approaches for increasing job quality. These core principles will help ensure equitable access to in-demand, quality jobs that are responsive to local and regional employer needs. To embed strong worker voice into these grant projects, applicants should engage workers during the initial grant proposal development phase to align the program design with worker needs, as well as to affirm protection of their rights (including their right to freely and fairly organize unions and collectively bargain). The Department has resources that can help workers, employers, and other key partners to better engage with and support worker voice, as well as worker rights. As an example, the Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has a workers’ rights resource page that provides key information to workers and employers on worker rights and protections.

[1] More recently, the Department has launched the Worker Organizing Resource and Knowledge (WORK) Center to provide assistance with effective strategies for a program designed with worker voice in mind. [2] Successful applicants are expected to continue to engage with workers and incorporate worker voice into their program implementation throughout the grant period to ensure that the program successfully meets the worker needs that were identified in the grant proposal and to ensure that workers are truly at the center of the sector strategy.

Project Design Applicants will design training programs in infrastructure-related industry sectors for good jobs in high-demand occupations that offer above-average pay and benefits for the applicable industry and service area, and opportunities to advance along a career pathway to middle- to high-skilled quality jobs. For the purposes of this FOA, middle-skilled occupations are generally those that require some significant education and training beyond high school (but less than a bachelor’s degree) such as a recognized postsecondary credential or RAP. High-skilled occupations are generally those that require a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Awarded grant projects will promote career pathways programs that offer a clear sequence, or pathway, of education coursework and/or training credentials recognized by employers. The grant program requires a training model that includes work-based learning as a training option and allows for a variety of other training models including, but not limited to, classroom training, incumbent worker training, and RAPs. Applicants will assess and offer participants the appropriate training model to fit their needs. As discussed in Section I.E.3., applicants must develop a robust supportive services strategy to increase participation and retention of individuals in training programs. The supportive services offered should be informed by workers engaged in the project to ensure the training model is driven by the needs of workers.

Lead Applicants Eligible lead applicants include:

National or community-based nonprofit organizations targeting the advanced manufacturing; information technology; and/or professional, scientific, and technical services occupations that support the renewable energy, transportation, and/or broadband infrastructure sectors, which includes nonprofit, trade, industry, or employer associations representing these sectors;

Labor unions, labor-management organizations, and worker organizations that represent workers in the identified industries or sectors;

Workforce development entities involved in administering the public workforce system established under WIOA, including State and Local WDBs and Indian and Native American Program entities eligible for funding under WIOA Section 166 (29 U.S.C.

3221);

Education/training providers including community colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Minority- Serving Institutions (MSIs), which include Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), Native American Non-Tribal Institutions (NANTIs), Alaskan Native or Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions (ANNHI), and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), and others;

Economic development agencies;

Native American Tribal governments (Federally recognized); and State, county, and local governments, including cities and townships, and State

Workforce Agencies (State government agencies that receive funds pursuant to the Wagner-Peyser Act (29 U.S.C. 49 et seq.) to administer the state’s public labor exchange activities or the lead state agency responsible for the administration of WIOA title I activities).

Leveraged Investment Although both tracks under this grant program support the goals of BIL, given the scale and scope of each track, the leverage and match requirements vary. The Department highly encourages public-private partnerships under the Development Track to contribute at least 15 percent of the total amount of requested funds as leveraged funds to support the grant project;

and for the Scaling Track, public-private partnerships are required to secure at least 15 percent of the total requested funds in qualifying match to support the grant project. Given the breadth of infrastructure investments across the U.S., applicants under both tracks are encouraged to leverage Federal BIL funding as available, as well as other federal funds such as those from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the American Rescue

Plan. Applicants are also encouraged to leverage resources across state and local funding streams, the private sector, and philanthropic organizations. Applicants will position their projects to sustain sector strategy implementation and expansion efforts beyond the grant period of performance by engaging partners and aligning grant projects with broader workforce and BIL-related activities that will be implemented during the course of the grant period of performance.

Eligible Program Participants/Target Population The DOL Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant program is funded through a user fee paid by employers to bring foreign workers into the U.S. under the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program. To further meet the demand for skilled workers in high-growth industries and economic sectors, a portion of these fees have been set aside for H-1B Skills Training Grants to fund projects that provide training and related activities to workers to assist them in gaining the skills and competencies needed for employment in the H-1B industries and sectors. Depending on the availability of funding, this FOA may be used to award additional rounds of grants that build on the initial investments of BIL to support the anticipated workforce training needs over the next decade.

This grant program must serve participants who are at least 17 years old and not currently enrolled in secondary school within a local educational agency. Among the individuals eligible to receive training, those of particular interest include historically marginalized and underrepresented populations, including women (who are underrepresented in many key infrastructure occupations), people of color, justice-impacted individuals, individuals with disabilities, veterans, military spouses, transitioning service members, and other populations with employment barriers that hinder movement into career pathways that lead to middle- to high-skilled H-1B occupations.

Evaluation The Department intends to conduct a national impact evaluation of the DOL Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant program to determine effective worker-centered sector strategies for training workers in middle- to high-skilled occupations supporting renewable energy, transportation, and broadband infrastructure sectors. All successful applicants will be required to participate in this evaluation.

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. PROGRAM PURPOSE

This announcement solicits applications for the DOL Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant Program.

Program Purpose and Alignment with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Other Major Federal Investments The purpose of the DOL Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant Program is to fund public-private partnerships to develop, implement, and scale worker-centered sector strategy training programs that train and prepare the skilled workforce needed to meet the demands of the sizeable infrastructure investments made through the BIL. This grant program will expand the workforce partnerships necessary to build equitable pathways to good infrastructure jobs, particularly for workers from underserved and underrepresented populations in the local/regional communities where these infrastructure projects are located, as well as within these occupations (such as women). On November 15, 2021, President Biden signed into law the historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Pub. L. No. 117-58, also referred to as the BIL.

[3] The BIL is a once-in-a-generation investment to rebuild our roads, bridges, ports, and airports; upgrade public transit and rail systems; replace lead pipes to provide clean water;

provide affordable, high-speed internet to every family in America and deliver cheaper and cleaner energy. [4]

Since the passage of the BIL, additional landmark pieces of legislation have also been passed that build upon the BIL’s historic infrastructure investments, including the CHIPS and Science Act and the IRA. The CHIPS and Science Act will invest billions of dollars to strengthen American manufacturing; ameliorate supply chain issues; and increase national security by investing in the research, development, and technology in industries including nanotechnology, clean energy, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence. [5] This legislation also fully funds the CHIPS for America Act, providing $52.7 billion for American semiconductor research, development, manufacturing, and workforce development. [6] Between federal funding directly provided by the legislation and private investments indirectly spurred from those federal investments, tens of thousands of jobs will be created by the CHIPS and Science Act in manufacturing, construction, and technology. [7] The IRA will, among other goals, help advance environmental justice for historically underserved populations by reducing pollution, improving clean transit, making clean energy more affordable and accessible, and strengthening resilience to climate change. [8]

According to a 2022 study by the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the IRA, together with the private investments this bill stimulates, will create over 9 million good jobs over the next 10 years. This includes nearly 5 million clean energy jobs, more than 900,000 clean manufacturing jobs, more than 400,000 clean transportation jobs, more than 900,000 jobs related to constructing efficient buildings, and about 150,000 environmental-justice related jobs. [9] In addition to the jobs this legislation will create, it will also sustain the millions of existing clean energy jobs across the country. [10] Further, the BIL’s “Build America, Buy America” provisions and the IRA’s domestic content requirements will promote the use of American-made iron, steel, construction materials, and manufactured products in federally-funded projects; these policies are driving a U.S. manufacturing boom which will contribute to high demand for the manufacturing workforce in the years to come. [11] [12]

Occupations As part of the whole-of-government approach to the implementation of the BIL and other recent federal investments, this grant program will support advanced manufacturing; information technology; and professional, scientific, and technical occupations supporting renewable energy, transportation, and broadband infrastructure sectors, as described below:

Advanced Manufacturing The BIL funds programs in the Departments of Transportation and Energy to expand access to clean energy to support President Biden’s goal of 100 percent clean power by 2035, invest in the supply chain for batteries, and establish a national network of electric vehicle infrastructure. [13]

[14] These programs will remanufacture and overhaul trains to reduce emissions, ensure a viable domestic manufacturing and recycling capability to support a North American battery supply, and advance new solar energy manufacturing technologies and techniques. [15] To accomplish these goals, the U.S. workforce will need additional workers to fill advanced manufacturing jobs producing goods like batteries, semiconductors, electric vehicles, and solar panels, with occupations such as assemblers and fabricators, machinists, and electromechanical assemblers.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, over ten years, these investments are projected to support an average of 175,000 jobs in manufacturing per year [16] (See Appendix A, H-1B Industries and Occupations).

Information Technology The BIL also funds programs across the government to strengthen electric infrastructure against extreme weather and cyber-attacks, expand and improve the flexibility of our electric grid, and improve informational technology capabilities to boost supply chain resilience. [17] These programs will implement information technology advancements for supply chain analysis, logistics, system monitoring, industrial and manufacturing processes, and other purposes; bolster federal capabilities to ensure cybersecurity, infrastructure security, emergency communications, and risk management for all critical infrastructure sectors; and fund demonstration projects for connected vehicles, smart grids, and smart technology traffic signals. [18] These investments will support an average of 13,000 jobs in information technology per year [19], in occupations such as those to support smart grids, smart cities, fiber optic cabling and broadband infrastructure, cybersecurity, and advanced logistics. These occupations include, but are not limited to, software developers, network and computer systems administrators, and computer systems analysts (See Appendix A, H-1B Industries and Occupations).

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services The BIL will fund programs and projects that will require workers with a high level of expertise and training who provide knowledge and services to clients in areas such as engineering and specialized design services; computer services; and other professional, scientific, and technical services. [20] For example, these investments will require occupations such as train engineers, architects, building scientists, building energy permitting and enforcement officials, and building technicians in energy-efficient design and operation; fund comprehensive planning, engineering, design, and evaluation of public transportation projects; and pay for the operation and maintenance of navigation channels, navigation locks and dams, and structures to reduce the risk of flood and storm damage. [21] The BIL’s historic infrastructure investments will support an average of 46,000 jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services per year over the next ten years, for occupations in electrical and electronics engineering, industrial engineering, civil engineering, and specialized technician occupations (See Appendix A, H-1B Industries and Occupations). [22]

Industry Sectors Within each of the occupations described above, the DOL Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant Program will target the following sectors:

Renewable Energy The BIL invests over $65 billion to upgrade U.S. power infrastructure while expanding the use of renewable and clean energy, representing the largest investment in clean energy transmission and grid in American history. [23] These investments support our nation’s transition to renewable energy and present an opportunity to mitigate the climate crisis and promote environmental justice, particularly for disadvantaged communities that disproportionately experience the impacts of climate change. [24] In the spirit of promoting environmental justice through investing in clean energy jobs, applicants proposing project service areas that have transitioned or are currently transitioning away from a labor market dependence on fossil energy are encouraged to consider how to recruit and serve individuals in low- and moderate-income communities within these areas that have lost or anticipate losing jobs due to the displacement of fossil energy as part of their overall training strategy.

Transportation The BIL invests billions of dollars to transform and modernize the way we move goods and people—from building a national network of EV charging infrastructure; to addressing a multibillion-dollar public transit repair backlog that includes more than 24,000 buses, 5,000 rail cars, 200 stations, and thousands of miles of track, signals, and power systems; and reducing congestion and emissions near ports and airports. [25] This legislation will invest $7.5 billion to build out a national network of 500,000 electric vehicle (EV) chargers to help facilitate the adoption of EVs. [26] This historic legislation is projected to create a per-year average of 17,000 jobs in EV infrastructure and 81,000 jobs in power infrastructure over the next decade. [27]

Additionally, this legislation includes the single largest dedicated investment in bridges in U.S.

history and will help to repair thousands of bridges across the country. The legislation will fund key transportation programs, such as assessing, repairing, and improving the resiliency of our National Highway System; deploying, installing, and operating advanced transportation technologies to improve safety, mobility, and efficiency; researching highly automated vehicles and related technology; and transitioning to electric school buses, transit buses and even passenger ferries to reduce emissions. [28] These workers will not only repair the transportation infrastructure we have, but also imagine a new future by adapting and changing our infrastructure with evolving transportation modes, new technologies, and an eye towards a zero emissions future.

Broadband Infrastructure The BIL provides $65 billion to ensure that all Americans can access reliable, high-speed internet, especially in rural and Tribal communities, which is increasingly necessary to apply for and maintain a job, attend school, and access critical resources like healthcare. [29] This investment will require individuals trained for jobs installing new broadband infrastructure in communities that still lack it, as well as maintaining the sustainability and security of this infrastructure over time. Over ten years, BIL investments are projected to result in a per-year average of 61,000 jobs in broadband infrastructure. [30]

Investing in Strategies for a Next Generation Workforce These investments demand a next generation workforce ready to fill these jobs. The manufacturing, information technology, and professional, scientific, and technical services industry sectors are all among the top ten industries that are using H-1B visas to hire foreign workers. [31] The high demand for these occupations from foreign labor demonstrates the need to train our workers in these in-demand infrastructure-related fields.

1. DOL Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant Program Training Tracks

The DOL Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant Program’s investments will support the creation of a talent pipeline to develop the skills of untapped labor pools, re-skill dislocated workers, and upskill workers to move into middle- to high-skilled quality infrastructure jobs created through the BIL by leveraging sector strategies (see Section I.A.2 below). To achieve the goals of the FOA, applicants are required to propose grant projects that address one of the following two training tracks. Both of these tracks are expected to serve historically marginalized and underserved populations and communities.

a. Development Track: Developing and Implementing Local/Regional Worker- Centered Sector Strategy Programs

The goal of the Development Track is to establish local and regional partnerships that will foster the implementation of an effective, worker-centered sector training program in one or more infrastructure-related sectors. Applicants should design their worker-centered sector training programs to include paid work-based learning strategies that are evidence-based, such as Registered Apprenticeship Programs and On-the-Job Training (OJT), among others (See Section E. Program Design and Allowable Activities). Additionally, in an effort to foster innovation, applicants may also propose untried, untested strategies and models, and provide an explanation for why they believe these innovative approaches may benefit the proposed service model and identified service area.

For the purposes of this FOA, applicants must develop and implement programs in local or regional service areas that are responsive to employer demand, and that target H-1B occupations and sectors which are experiencing strong growth. Applicants must design programs that support equitable participation and growth of sector-based partnerships. This may include developing sector partnerships in any of the following scenarios to address employer and industry demand:

Brand new sector partnerships (i.e., the partnership is newly formed to address the sector and employer needs with all partner organizations newly connected under the proposed sector strategy) that seek to implement and operate in a local/regional area where they do not currently exist;

Partially established sector partnerships (i.e., some, but not all, of the necessary partners have been engaged in related work and are committed to supporting the sector partnership) that are already operating in the proposed local/regional service area; or

Fully established sector partnerships (i.e., all necessary partners are engaged in related work and are committed to supporting the sector partnership) that are not already operating in the proposed local/regional area.

These partnerships must create inclusive career pathways and meet employer and industry workforce needs through local and regional workforce training programs (as defined in Section I.D. Geographic Scope) that serve historically marginalized, underrepresented, and underserved populations and communities. To that end, the Department strongly encourages applications from institutions that have not previously been awarded an H-1B grant from DOL as a lead applicant and also encourages applications that include smaller and/or rural communities (See Appendix E Key Definitions).

Applicants will establish collaborative industry and worker partnerships in which they conduct outreach to and convene stakeholders; conduct asset mapping and analysis; assess the local/regional strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for an infrastructure workforce; and develop and implement plans to recruit, train, and retain individuals in their target industry sector(s) in the local or regional community. Grant projects under this track will establish career pathways in the proposed sector-based initiative that focus on the skills, competencies, and credentials needed for good-quality infrastructure-related jobs within the targeted H-1B industries and occupations. See Section I.E. for a description of program design requirements and allowable activities.

b. Scaling Track: Scaling Effective Worker-Centered Sector Strategy Programs

The goal of the Scaling Track is to invest in established partnerships that have demonstrated effectiveness in implementing sector strategy training programs in one or more infrastructure-related sectors. Applicants will scale an existing model that has supporting data with respect to employment outcomes, wage progression, and sustainability to demonstrate the effectiveness of the model. Successful applicants under this track will substantially increase the geographic area served by their existing model (e.g., scaling a currently successful statewide sector training program to a national level, which is defined in Section I.D. Geographic Scope).

Applicants will design their training programs to include evidence-based training models and will strategically scale their programs in ways that meet the needs of employers in the targeted service area(s). Applications for this track must include documentation of past success and must demonstrate why and how broadening the geographic scope of their proposed training model will build a pipeline to a greater number of worker-centered, quality infrastructure jobs. The Department considers applicants to be well-positioned to scale training programs if the application demonstrates evidence that the lead applicant has experience implementing strong, effective, and adaptable sector training programs and provides evidence of robust and committed partnerships across all the proposed service areas. See Section I.E. for a description of program design requirements and allowable activities.

2. Worker-Centered Sector Strategies

The DOL Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant Program is designed to ensure workers are at the center of the grant program’s training and employment strategies. This grant program will advance the Administration’s job quality priorities while emphasizing the principles of worker-centered sector strategies. A sector strategy is a systems approach to workforce development that involves a public-private partnership of multiple employers within an industry sector, that brings together educational institutions; economic development agencies; workforce development systems; and labor, worker, and community organizations to identify and collaboratively meet the workforce needs of that industry sector within a given economic region(s).

Applicants must propose worker-centered training programs that are industry-driven and responsive to local and regional infrastructure sector demands in the proposed service area.

These grants will meet industry needs while also engaging workers to create training programs that provide quality jobs. For example, this may include ensuring adequate staffing, offering family-sustaining wages and career pathway progression, requiring robust safety and health protocols, offering quality worker benefits (such as health insurance, paid leave, and retirement) and supporting recruitment and retention practices that promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. This also should include, whenever possible, collaboration with unions and worker organizations to develop and deliver training and/or providing supervised work-based learning.

Training programs must be designed to address the evolving local and regional infrastructure sector demands as BIL investments gain traction across the country. Applicants must demonstrate that the proposed sector partnership has the capacity to quickly respond to emerging workforce needs to develop the pipeline of skilled workers to rapidly support and leverage infrastructure sector job openings.

As a strategy for embedding strong worker voice into these grant projects, applicants should engage workers during both the initial grant proposal development phase and the grant implementation phase. This will help to ensure that workers are an active and engaged voice in the training design and that the training aligns with worker needs, as well as to ensure that their rights (including their right to freely and fairly organize unions and collectively bargain) are protected. Studies show that worker-centered sector strategies, such as California’s High Road Training Partnership (HRTP) model, can provide marginalized workers with pathways to quality jobs, while employers benefit from a skilled workforce and increased market competitiveness.

[32] The worker-centered approach ensures that workforce development and employment opportunities are accessible to and shaped by communities of color and low-paid workers and offer quality jobs with family-sustaining wages and benefits, that workplaces are safe and healthy, and that workers have agency and voice and are treated with dignity and respect. [33]

Worker-centered sector strategies promote systems change and worker power to build an economy based on equity, skills, innovation, and shared prosperity in which:

Workers gain access to the appropriate training programs to help them achieve success on the job and advance along a career pathway to quality jobs and careers;

Employers gain a high-performing workforce that improves productivity, service quality, and market competitiveness;

Worker organizations and unions set industry standards and offer higher wages when workers are training to meet employers’ needs; and

Communities become more resilient by working alongside labor and worker organizations and employers to develop recruitment pipelines, equitable employment opportunities, and other worker-centered systems that empower communities. [34]

Through this grant program, DOL will advance worker-centered sector strategies that engage workers, worker organizations, unions, or labor-management partnerships; employers; workforce development entities; training entities; and community organizations to create strong and sustainable partnerships that collaboratively address local or regional economic needs in real-time. This collaboration will create an ecosystem of economic prosperity that is grounded in three core principles: (1) diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; (2) career pathways; and

(3) job quality.

a. Core Principle 1: Strategies for Ensuring Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility and Prioritizing Recruitment, Training and Retention of a Local Workforce

Ensuring diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) is a fundamental principle of worker-centered sector strategies. Worker-centered sector strategies create pathways to economic prosperity for those who have been historically marginalized by discrimination, economic exclusion, and exploitation, including people of color, justice-impacted and/or housing insecure individuals, as well as women, people with disabilities, immigrants, and other populations who experience economic and social inequities in the applicable service area. [35] These strategies focus on systems change to address inequities, and efforts to improve DEIA are an ongoing process.

The DOL Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant Program will ensure equitable opportunities for federal funding by 1) encouraging applications from organizations and institutions that serve historically marginalized, underrepresented populations and underserved communities; and 2) encouraging applicants to prioritize and recruit participants from these local underserved and underrepresented communities so that workers trained for infrastructure projects are both representative of and from the (geographic) communities where these projects are located. This supports a place-based model of economic transformation while focusing on a specific in-demand sector.

On February 16, 2023, President Biden issued Executive Order 14091, Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government— building upon Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. [36] The term “equity” means the “consistent and systematic treatment of all individuals in a fair, just, and impartial manner, including individuals who belong to communities that often have been denied such treatment, such as Black, Latino, Indigenous and Native American, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander persons and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; women and girls;

LGBTQI+ persons; persons with disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; persons who live in United States Territories; persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality; and individuals who belong to multiple such communities.” [37] The term “underserved communities” refers to “those populations as well as geographic communities that have been systematically denied the opportunity to participate fully in aspects of economic, social, and civic life, as defined in Executive Orders 13985 and 14020.” [38]

Applicants must propose strategies that advance equity and embed these strategies in the grant program design to build equitable pathways into the target infrastructure-related industries and occupations that have historically lacked it. Applicants should be intentional and proactive in designing programs and strategies that ensure the greatest levels of equity. This includes demonstrating how the proposed program will be developed with the input of impacted workers, worker organizations, or labor-management partnerships; incorporates the lived experience of historically marginalized or underrepresented populations; prioritizes local targeted hires from these communities; and utilizes recruitment and supportive services that attract, retain, and advance historically marginalized and underrepresented populations in the infrastructure-related occupations within their service areas.

The applicant should explain the extent to which project activities will be located in and benefit underserved communities. Strategies that advance DEIA may include, but are not limited to:

Identifying Minority Business Enterprises, Minority-Owned Businesses, Woman-Owned Businesses, Veteran Owned Businesses, businesses owned by people with disabilities, and small businesses to include as employer partners;

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/02/22/2023-03779/further-advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal

Collaborating with HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs, including PBIs, HSIs, NANTIs, ANNHIs, and AANAPISIs as education and training partners;

Identifying partners that work with specific underrepresented populations, such as women (and in particular, supporting women to enter nontraditional infrastructure occupations), people of color, justice-impacted individuals, individuals with disabilities, and other populations with employment barriers that hinder movement into career pathways leading to middle- to high-skilled H-1B occupations;

Engaging with unions and worker organizations to identify, recruit, and serve underrepresented populations, as well as to collaboratively address their training needs and to identify on-the-job peer mentors with shared characteristics;

Activities that ensure program services are accessible to all in terms of language and ability;

Activities that ensure workers who do not have the educational prerequisites and/or experience to enter jobs and/or training programs are given the services and resources needed for them to successfully enter and complete workforce training; and

Instituting anti-harassment and anti-discrimination workplace programs and trainings that promote inclusive, respectful, and welcoming workplaces.

b. Core Principle 2: Career Pathways

Career Pathway programs integrate academic and occupational skills training aligned with employer-validated work readiness standards and competencies. The clear sequence of coursework and/or credentials allows progression through a variety of postsecondary credentials that demonstrate marketable skills in various occupations within an industry sector. Worker-centered sector strategies incorporate career pathways strategies by aligning education and training programs with industry needs. They represent a strategic approach to building employer-driven, regional talent pipelines by addressing skill gaps and creating meaningful career pathways to quality jobs for diverse workers in important regional industries. A key goal of utilizing a career pathways approach is to enable entrance or career advancement in the infrastructure-related workforce and support continued wage progression as skills and credential attainment increases.

Under this FOA, training along a career pathway may start with entry-level occupations but must lead to employment and and/or advancement into in-demand middle- to high-skilled occupations in advanced manufacturing; information technology; and/or professional, scientific, and technical occupations supporting renewable energy, transportation, and/or broadband infrastructure sectors. Career pathways must be sector-focused and incorporate the needs and hiring opportunities of employers within a specific industry sector, and provide planned and sequenced coursework, training, and/or work experience that leads to attainment of recognized postsecondary credentials.

This grant program seeks to advance strategies that support participants entering and progressing in career pathways programs leading to good-quality in-demand jobs in middle- to high-skilled infrastructure-related occupations. DOL’s 2021 Career Pathways Descriptive and Analytical Project provides insight into workers’ actual economic prospects and pathways over three-, five-, and ten-year time periods, how workers move through job clusters, and how they experience wage growth. [39] It identifies shared characteristics of “launchpad” occupations—occupations from which workers go on to experience higher-than-average wage growth—across sectors. [40] The project studied programs that use career pathways strategies as a workforce training model and found that “on average the career pathways approach led to favorable impacts on educational progress and some labor market outcomes…Specifically, the career pathways approach increased educational progress and increased employment in the industry trained for.” [41]

Applicants must propose projects that describe the infrastructure-related career pathway; identify entry and exit points; describe credential attainment (e.g., certificate, certifications, license, or degrees); and outline the expected employment outcomes, including wages and increased roles and responsibilities. Applicants must develop career plans that directly align with the current and planned infrastructure projects in the proposed target area and how the grant will help participants navigate and assess their various career pathway options, including identifying skills and competencies needed for those occupations, and describing how the education and training provided will assist individuals in moving along a career pathway within infrastructure-related occupations.

c. Core Principle 3: Approaches for Increasing Job Quality

Job quality is an essential component of worker-centered sector strategies. In 2022, the Departments of Labor and Commerce published The Good Jobs Principles to foster a shared federal vision of job quality. As directed below, applicants must factor each of these Principles into their applications. These Principles describe good-quality jobs that pay family-sustaining wages and provide wage progression, benefits, access to paid leave, opportunities for career advancement through training and education and, to the strongest extent possible, a platform for worker voice to support all workers and ensure fair pay and safe working conditions. Under the worker-centered sector strategies framework, quality jobs have the potential to transform workers’ lives and create a more equitable economy. Good jobs are “the foundation of an equitable economy that lifts up workers and families and makes businesses more competitive globally. They allow everyone to share in prosperity and support local communities and the entire U.S. economy. Workers know the value of a good job that provides stability and security for them and their families.