Wal-Mart Awards City $300,000 for Leadership in Green Jobs Training

Lang honored for green jobs leadership, lands $300k grant for New Bedford
By Dan McDonald

Mayor Scott Lang was among three mayors honored at the 78th Annual Conference of Mayors held in Oklahoma City for their leadership in green jobs training.
Lang’s distinction means that People Acting in Community Endeavors’ “Youth Build Green Energy Solutions” program will receive $300,000 through the Wal-Mart Foundation from the conference. The conference chose nonprofit groups in the cities of the mayors honored to receive grants. The grants are intended to support and expand green jobs training.
PACE’s program will provide residential and commercial energy efficiency training. The program trains local contractors, experienced construction workers and inexperienced residents interested in entering the green technology sector.
“Energy, climate protection and green jobs have been top priorities in our work with mayors, Congress and the administration, specifically our efforts to enact a new energy block grant program and the Green Jobs Act,” Tom Cochran, chief executive officer and executive director of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said through a statement.
Matt Kistler, senior vice president of sustainability for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said his company was pleased to partner with the conference “in their efforts to lay an important foundation for identifying the strategies that will help to move the needle for the creation of green jobs.”
The other mayors honored were Michael Nutter of Philadelphia and William Bell of Durham, N.C.
dmcdonald@s-t.com
June 12, 2010 12:00 AM
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