Workforce Development

Prioritizing opportunities for Sandy‐impacted residents in the rebuilding of their communities, Build It Back, in partnership with NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS), launched Sandy Recovery Workforce1 to match those workers with jobs in recovery and connect residents with training for union construction careers.

Sandy Recovery Workforce1:

• Combined a focus on hiring for recovery efforts with leveraging the City’s larger workforce development system
• Established contract terms—Sandy Recovery Hiring Plans—requiring contractors and consultants to hire Sandy-impacted New Yorkers
• Expanded contractor and labor capacity for single-family construction work through a Project Labor Agreement with a commitment for local hiring with the construction unions
• Connected Sandy-impacted New Yorkers to middle-class careers by providing pre-apprenticeship training and direct entry into construction apprenticeships

Through this unprecedented workforce development effort, New Yorkers impacted by the storm were put to work rebuilding their neighborhoods.

• 1,949 Sandy-impacted New Yorkers worked for Build It Back
• 171 Sandy-impacted New Yorkers got pre-apprenticeship union placements
• 23% of all trades working on Build It Back homes were Sandy-impacted New Yorkers, exceeding the City’s goal of 20%

Workforce Development Press

• Construction workers build buildings and lives in NYC (Greg Mocker—Pix 11)
• New York still rebuilding from Superstorm Sandy (Dana Arschin—Fox5)
• Hurricane Sandy-Displaced Locals Among Those Hired by Build It Back Program (Katie Honan—DNA Info)
• NYC’s Build It Back to expand pre-apprenticeship voucher program (Keri Blakinger—New York Daily News)
• Mujeres son firmes trabajadoras en la industria de la construcción (Carmen Molina Tamacas—El Diario)