Grow a Skilled Workforce and Contractor Base

Boost the health and economic impacts of lead pipe replacement for your community.

Key Actions

Key Action 1

Develop a new or partner with an existing workforce development program

Create a workforce pipeline to boost the health and economic impacts of lead pipe replacement for your community. A robust worker pipeline for lead service line replacement is critical for getting the job done and reducing costs.

Develop training programs

Develop training programs to prepare individuals for careers in the water sector, particularly in high-impact roles such as crew leader. In addition to requiring contractors to hire apprentices, an ongoing workforce development program in the region can provide long-term opportunities for growth.

Toolbox

A New Era For Water Management: Harnessing GIS Innovations And Collaboration For A Resilient Future

Hopeworks equips interns with the skills to develop models, analyze data, and create visualizations, to support water utilities in need...

Article

Initiative

St. Paul Regional Water hires 30 new employees to speed lead line replacement

St. Paul Regional Water hires 30 new employees to speed lead line replacement and has grown its workforce by at...

Workforce development

Guidance

Public Sector Apprenticeship Toolkit (pdf)

This toolkit provides guidance on how to address critical workforce shortages in state and local governments....

Policy Analysis

How SRF policies can support equitable water workforce development

IIJA is an investment in jobs, as well as infrastructure. Federal SRF appropriations flow to communities through state SRF programs,...

Guidance

How new and expanded federal programs can deliver good jobs and environmental benefits

This user guide offers a comprehensive roadmap to help stakeholders leverage federal investments for infrastructure modernization, job creation, and environmental...

Key Action 2

Establish a workforce apprenticeship program

Utilities with a significant number of lead service lines may implement an apprenticeship program to employ and create long-term career opportunities for affected residents. An apprentice program which typically involves collaboration with local unions, can yield an array of benefits.

Give preference to residents and hire locally

Give preference to residents and hire locally. By ensuring that replacement jobs go to underserved populations from high-poverty areas, utilities can help the local economy by keeping a portion of lead pipe replacement funds circulating within the community. This may also ease efforts to access properties as local residents who are part of field crews know the community (and sometimes the occupants of a given home), which can support community outreach efforts.

Track key metrics and demographics

Track key metrics and demographics related to the new hires and apprentices in workforce development programs. Keeping track of these measures can help ensure that these programs are benefiting the intended groups and enable necessary readjustments to achieve the program’s stated goals.