SACRAMENTO, CA - The Sacramento Kings hosted an outreach and training meeting today with the Community Workforce Pipeline (CWP), a new alliance of community and faith-based organizations focused on providing greater economic opportunities to low-income and disadvantaged workers through the new downtown entertainment and sports center (ESC).
The training specifically focused on a new ‘Priority Apprenticeship Program’, which will recruit, train, and deploy at least 70 apprentices from high-need backgrounds and neighborhoods in the construction of the ESC.
“I am thrilled to see the Kings launching this important program,” said Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson. “The Entertainment and Sports center has always been, first and foremost, about creating jobs for our community. We will succeed when the ESC transforms not only our downtown, but also the lives of those in Sacramento most in need of economic opportunity. The Priority Apprenticeship Program is a major step towards honoring both commitments.”
“The Kings are proud to lead this extraordinary coalition of business, labor, government, community and faith leaders working to create quality jobs through the ESC,” said Kings President Chris Granger. “Today is a great example of why this project is bigger than basketball. We are honored to be in a position to provide what could become a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for deserving individuals to launch a new career and pathway to the middle class.”
The Apprenticeship Program is an unprecedented collaboration of several organizations, including the Kings, Turner Construction, the Sacramento-Sierra Building Trades, the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency (SETA), the City of Sacramento, and the Community Workforce Pipeline member organizations: the Greater Sacramento Urban League, Sacramento Area Congregations Together (ACT), the Center for Employment Training (CET), Asian Resource Center and La Familia.
The CWP and SETA (via its Sacramento Works Job and Training Center system) are taking the lead in recruiting and screening prospective candidates for the program. To qualify for the program, an individual must meet the criteria as a “Priority Worker” and/or live in a “Priority Zip Code”:
- 1. Priority Workers pathway: Open to all residents of the City of Sacramento who meet two or more of the following criteria: low-income, food stamps/public assistance recipient, former foster youth, homeless, veteran and/or ex-offender.
- 2. Priority Zip Code pathway: Open to all residents of the following zip codes identified by SETA has having the highest poverty rates in the City and immediate vicinity: 95652, 95660, 95811, 95814, 95815, 95817, 95820, 95823, 95824, 95832 and 95838.
In addition, individuals must meet specific criteria for each construction apprenticeship programs with the Sacramento-Sierra Building and Construction Trades Council.
Once confirmed by SETA as eligible for the program, Priority Apprentices will either enter directly into various union apprenticeship programs affiliated with the Sacramento-Sierra Building Trades, if ready, or first enroll in one of several “pre-construction” programs affiliated with SETA/Sacramento Works, including the Northern California Construction Training Program (NCCT), American River College’s Project STRIPE program, and JobCorps. Priority Worker candidates may also be drawn from current applicants and enrollees in the Building Trade apprenticeship programs and aforementioned preconstruction programs who meet one or both of the Priority criteria.
During construction, the Building Trades and Turner Construction will work with ESC contractors and subcontractors to identify and dispatch Priority Apprentices to the ESC project site. At least 20 percent of all construction hours worked on the ESC project will be completed by apprentices. Turner will ensure contractor and subcontractor compliance with the Priority Apprenticeship Program and oversee tracking and reporting of the program’s progress.
As a further incentive, wage subsidies of up to $4,000 per worker will be available for the first 50 new apprentices hired to the ESC who meet the Priority Worker Criteria.
In addition to the Priority Apprenticeship Program, the Kings also announced plans to adopt a ‘Ban the Box’ hiring policy at the ESC. Under this policy, the Kings will first assess whether prospective job applicants meet minimum employment qualifications prior to completing background checks and inquiring into applicants’ prior conviction histories. The goal of the policy will be to maintain safety, security and integrity of hiring decisions while allowing qualified ex-offenders greater opportunity and consideration. The policy is modeled after the AB 218 legislation passed into law by the State of California in 2013.
To apply for the Priority Apprenticeship Program, applicants are advised to call the SETA Arena Jobs Hotline at (916) 274-1019.