West Michigan In The News

The construction boom in downtown Grand Rapids employs countless workers, and one group's goal is to bring ethnic and gender diversity into that workforce through skills training and by creating a pool of workers who are job ready. Organizers didn't rest until they had the major players at the table.

According to excerpts from the story:

There is millions of dollars worth of construction going on in downtown Grand Rapids. But few minority and women construction workers are involved in those projects, according to some community leaders.

A new memorandum of understanding aims to change that by increasing the availability of minorities and women in construction through recruitment, skills training and placement.

The memo, developed by an informal group calling itself the Kent County Black Elected Officials, attempts to establish the process of workforce development and placement of construction workers in West Michigan, particularly Kent County. The agreement is the result of several meetings held with local minority contractors, West Michigan Minority Contractors, Associated Builders and Contractors-Western Michigan Chapter, building trade unions and other representatives.

Read the complete story here.