EPA Region 7 Administrator Meg McCollister presented a $500,000 ceremonial check to the Full Employment Council (FEC) of Kansas City, Missouri, for a Brownfields Job Training grant selection. McCollister and FEC President and CEO Clyde McQueen were joined by U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver II (MO-5) and City of Kansas City, Missouri, Director of Public Works Michael Shaw.
(See Video Coverage from Fox 4 here.)
With this funding, FEC plans to train 60 students and place at least 38 of them in environmental jobs. FEC’s training program includes over 230 hours of instruction in areas such as hazardous waste, health and safety, and commercial driver’s licensing with certification in removal and transport of toxic materials. The program is focused on providing training and jobs for Kansas City, Missouri, residents who are unemployed, underemployed, or in low-income brackets.
“The second career chance offered by EPA’s Brownfields Job Training Program can be truly life-changing,” McCollister said. “The Full Employment Council’s program will prepare Kansas Citians to work on environmental cleanups within the city, with salary prospects averaging $20 an hour. We’re proud to deliver half a million dollars in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to the community through this initiative.”
“The Full Employment Council is extremely pleased to receive this $500,000 grant award from the Environmental Protection Agency,” McQueen said. “This success results from a long-term, system-based partnership with the Kansas City Brownfields Initiative, City of KCMO Public Works Department, and numerous environmental contractors within the KCMO region. Further, this effort will improve urban core neighborhoods negatively impacted by contamination, blight, and pollution from decades of environmental abuse.”
“I am thrilled to see more federal dollars making their way back to Missouri’s Fifth District, with the Full Employment Council of Kansas City selected as stewards of the EPA’s Brownfields Job Training Program grant,” Cleaver said. “This funding opportunity, enabled by President Biden’s historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will not only continue to allow the Full Employment Council to provide critical opportunities to Kansas City workers, but it will also bolster their impact in neighborhoods throughout the urban core. I am proud to have supported the legislation that made this funding possible, and I will continue to work across the aisle to ensure that organizations like the Full Employment Council have the necessary resources to carry out their important mission.”