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Boston job training coalition placed more than 4,500 workers in four years, city says

The Good Jobs Metro Boston Coalition, backed by a $23 million federal grant, trained people for jobs in health care, clean energy and child care. Mass General Brigham alone made more than 1,000 hires.

BOSTON — A federally funded Boston job training initiative placed more than 4,500 unemployed and underemployed people in jobs in health care, clean energy and child care over four years, the city's Office of Workforce Development said Tuesday as it marked the end of the program.

The Good Jobs Metro Boston Coalition was paid for by a $23 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration. Its goal was to train and place 4,618 residents. The city put another $24 million into job training across sectors during the grant period, according to the office.

Partners enrolled more than 6,000 people in funded training programs, the city said, and more than 3,500 of those placed in jobs were directly supported by the federal grant. The coalition worked with more than 300 employers and funded 27 training programs. The city said it is still collecting final placement figures from partners.

The Boston Healthcare Careers Consortium, the Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology and the CAYL Institute designed the strategies for health care, clean energy and child care, respectively. Mass General Brigham was the largest employer, with more than 1,000 hires. Others included Beth Israel Lahey Health, Boston EMS, Schneider Electric, Homeworks Energy, Bozzuto, Little Sprouts, the YMCA and Action for Boston Community Development.

The workforce office and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council held a celebration Aug. 25 to mark the program's conclusion. Three graduates of the program, Boston EMS emergency medical technician Jordy Gonzalez, lead teacher Mackendy Saveur and contractor Nacius Magis, spoke on a panel about their experiences. Joanne Pokaski, an assistant vice president of workforce development at Beth Israel Lahey Health, said the program increased the hospital system's staffing in critical roles, according to the city.

"The Good Jobs Challenge was an important catalyst in addressing healthcare workforce shortages as our industry emerged from the pandemic," said Kristin Driscoll, executive director of workforce development at Mass General Brigham.

This brief was drafted by AI from a public agency or political press release and published by The New England Signal. Why we use AI for stories like this one.

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