The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, one of the nation’s largest charitable organizations, recently announced that Growing Power Inc., in Greendale, will receive $400,000 for a plan to create sustainable jobs among vulnerable urban populations.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, one of the nation’s largest charitable organizations, recently announced that Growing Power Inc., in Milwaukee, will receive $400,000 for a plan to create sustainable jobs among vulnerable urban populations.
The project, called Growing Capacity for the Green Economy, aims to prepare people for work in fields including intensive agriculture, renewable energy and environmental education. Growing Power will not only expand its efforts in Milwaukee and Chicago, it will also extend its outreach operations to partners in Detroit.
“What we call the green sector of the economy is the only sector that is growing right now, not shrinking,” said Will Allen, founder and chief executive officer of Growing Power. “But few of those green jobs are going to the people and places that need them most.”
Green industry jobs are generally considered high-tech, high-skilled positions, however that doesn’t have to always be the case, he said.
“With this grant (from Kellogg), we hope to show that there is a place in the green economy for people with few skills or little education starting out,” Allen said.
Creating a community food system involves many skills and disciplines besides tending food crops, Allen said. Workers learn about operating and maintaining equipment and energy systems, food processing, packaging, distribution, marketing, and accounting.
Growing Power has built or fostered a number of community food systems across the country and is in the process of creating several national and regional training centers. But the opportunity to work in Detroit is particularly gratifying, Allen said.
“Detroit has been so hard hit, and the need there is so great,” he said. “A number of the people on my own staff have ties to Detroit, and the Kellogg Foundation, being based in Michigan, had a strong interest in seeing us work there. So it feels good for all of us to reach out a helping hand.”
