The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) has announced the selection of 21 projects to expand the Industrial Training and Assessment Centers (ITAC) program. The ITAC program provides hands-on job training for clean energy careers while helping small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) save energy, improve performance, and reduce emissions. These programs, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, help small businesses save money and expand opportunities for disadvantaged communities to save energy and pursue high-quality clean energy careers.

The expanded ITAC program will train over 4,000 students, apprentices, and incumbent manufacturing workers for quality careers that do not necessarily require a four-year college degree. The selections both establish new ITACs and provide planning grants to selectees to plan for creating future ITACs. All told, MESC funds over 200 projects ranging from advanced manufacturing deployment, workforce deployment, SMM manufacturing efficiency, batteries and battery components, heat pumps and clean HVAC, as well as critical minerals and materials.

"Our Industrial Training and Assessment Centers will provide necessary training opportunities and reduce barriers to good paying, union jobs that will boost our clean energy economy," U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said in a statement. 

One of the 38 new announcements is for the Western States Council of Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMART). Funded federally with $5.7 million cost share, this project will work across six local Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committees (JATCs) in California and Arizona to train union apprentices and journeyworkers in critical clean energy skills. Training will focus on green job pathways related to testing, adjusting, and balancing (TAB) for HVAC and other mechanical systems. The Tri-Counties Sheet Metal Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee (JATC), serving Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo, also won a project. 

Additionally, at $3.4 million federal cost share, two International Training Institute (ITI) IACs will be located at the Georgia Sheet Metal JATC (in Atlanta) and the Sheet Metal Local 88 JATF (in Las Vegas). Both regions have a growing need for skilled HVAC technicians.

See how each break down geographically below.

The ITAC program has a long history of success, having provided more than 21,000 assessments at SMMs, which comprise more than 90% of the nation's manufacturing entities, over more than four decades. The expanded program will reach even more SMMs in states and communities across the country.

The selected projects include labor unions, community and technical colleges, trade schools, and apprenticeship readiness providers. An estimated 50% of the funding for the announced selections will go to organizations that serve disadvantaged communities, according to the DOE. The selections also include seven institutions federally recognized as serving an especially high percentage of students from minority groups (also known as Minority-Serving Institutions, or MSIs).

The expansion of the ITAC program is part of MESC's broader portfolio of investments in clean energy and manufacturing. MESC is investing over $20 billion in funding to communities and industries across the nation.

For more information on the ITAC program and other MESC initiatives, visit the MESC website.