Exxon Mobil Corporation (ExxonMobil) and the National Community Action Foundation (NCAF) have awarded about $4 million in grants to recipients of the ExxonMobil/NCAF Weatherization Training Partnership program. The grant recipients proposed the new approaches and partnerships to enhance training for workers delivering weatherization services through the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) weatherization assistance program (WAP).
The grants will support training for workers to improve energy efficiency of low-income homes across the nation. The following nine community action agencies from around the country received grants: Action Housing Inc.; Energy Coordinating Agency; Indiana Community Action Association; Community Services Agency; Association for Energy Affordability, Inc.; Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development; Community Housing Partners Corporation; Community Action Team Inc.; and Montana Weatherization Training Center at MSU.
The announcement was made at the 2009 Community Investment Futures Energy Conference in St. Petersburg, Florida. Final details of individual grants are being finalized, and grant amounts range from $300,000 to nearly $1 million. The grants are in addition to a $100,000 demonstration grant awarded by ExxonMobil and NCAF in August to a group of Ohio agencies who have teamed up to form a weatherization training partnership.
“The winners of the ExxonMobil/NCAF grants are combining the expertise of community action agencies, educators, workforce development experts and the private sector to give weatherization workers the best tools to help communities take advantage of one of our greatest resources – energy efficiency,” said Sherman Glass, president of ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Company. “ExxonMobil is committed to improving energy efficiency in our own operations and around the world, and today’s grants will extend that commitment to communities in America.”
“By creating novel training models and building capacity of energy efficiency programs, today’s recipients are making the country more energy efficient, helping American workers build careers and supporting community economic development,” said David Bradley, executive director of the NCAF.
The ExxonMobil/NCAF Partnership Advisory Board reviewed more than 100 letters of interest from community action agencies across the country. The board selected nine proposals based on their ability to form meaningful partnerships with organizations from other sectors, create models that will help prepare weatherization workers to pursue a career in energy efficiency, and build the capacity of weatherization programs to achieve the goal of making nearly 750,000 homes more energy efficient as established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
ExxonMobil donated $5 million to NCAF to support projects that will expand the scale and scope of existing training programs so workers are well prepared for sustainable careers in the growing fields of energy efficiency and weatherization. ExxonMobil’s grant is the private contribution to community organizations that work with the DOE’s WAP.