Category: In the News

The new academy should help train thousands of individuals to help with construction.

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An initiative to train thousands of Central Texans in career paths tied to the region’s tens of billions of dollars of new infrastructure projects on the horizon launched March 22 at Austin Community College’s Riverside Campus.

Local leaders gathered at ACC Riverside March 22 to mark the start of the Austin Infrastructure Academy, a workforce recruitment and training collaborative formed in advance of years of major development around Greater Austin.

The infrastructure academy’s creation has been in the works for months through partnership between local officials, educators and representatives from infrastructure industry, workforce development and labor groups.

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Austin City Council gave the green light March 7 to launch an Infrastructure Academy to connect residents with jobs as Austin embarks on $25 billion in capital projects.

The program aims to help fill thousands of skilled trades jobs with local talent as Austin widens I-35, expands the airport, renovates the convention center and adds a light rail to its transportation network.

Austin will also need to ramp up its recruiting efforts and improve coordination with existing organizations, such as Workforce Solutions Capital Area, Skillpoint Alliance and Austin Community College to get local workers trained and hired, the study found.

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A plan to establish a new Austin infrastructure academy is taking shape, with the aim of ensuring the city’s workforce is equipped to meet the demands placed upon it by $25 billion in transportation-related projects over the coming years.

City Council approved a resolution March 7 that directs city staff to begin laying the groundwork for the new school and training network. The list of transformational projects on tap for Austin includes a 10-mile light rail route, a new concourse at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and the expansion of Interstate 35 through the center of the city.

Workforce Solutions Capital Area, a nonprofit workforce development organization, also is set to play a central role in the founding of the new institution.

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Thousands of workers are needed for big construction projects happening all around Austin.

Mayor Kirk Watson, along with the support of several Austin council members are pushing for an infrastructure academy to be a training hub for the city.

They hope a partnership with Workforce Solutions will help get construction workers, skilled trade individuals and the project managers they need to build the infrastructure.

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Austin Mayor Kirk Watson announced Wednesday plans for a new infrastructure academy to help build a local pipeline of workers for major construction and transportation projects in the region.

It’s tied to an agenda item that the city council will take up March 7.

Workforce Solutions Capital Area is one of the organizations working with the mayor on this initiative. Chief Executive Officer Tamara Atkinson said this would be the first academy of its kind in the country.

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