ROADS/BRIDGES: ODOT increases annual funding for construction job training

ODOT increased its annual funding $50,000 for the Greater Cincinnatig Urban League

Oct. 2, 2015

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) increased its funding for the Greater Cincinnati Urban League from $250,000 to $300,000 per year.

Urban League’s Construction Connections is a pre-apprenticeship training program that prepares participants for careers in the construction industry.

Ohio Rep. Alicia Reece noted that Construction Connections could train local residents in time for them to get jobs and help build ODOT's Martin Luther King interchange project in Avondale, which suffers from high unemployment.

ODOT has been the sole funder for the Construction Connections program since 2010, said Donna Jones Baker, CEO of the Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio.

The money comes from federal job training funding and is designed to target women, minorities and disadvantaged individuals, ODOT's Kim Watson said.

The ODOT money also will pay for additional classes in 2016, he said.

Since 2010, 268 people have enrolled in Construction Connections, and 250 have graduated. A total of 199 of them are employed.