Brian Williams has dreamed of working in the solar field ever since he first heard about it in the 1970s. So when a new green job training program arrived in his hometown of Ocala, Fla., Williams, now 53, signed up immediately.
The program – one of many around the country -- is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and geared toward helping unemployed workers, low-income individuals, high school dropouts or people with criminal records.
When he joined one year ago, Williams was unemployed. During his training at Workforce Connection, a non-profit organization in Ocala, he learned basic skills, such as job interviewing, and more advanced ones, such as solar installation.
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Williams isn't alone. According to the most recent data from the BlueGreen Alliance and the Economic Policy Institute, there were 3,586 graduates of Department of Labor-funded green job training programs as of Sept. 30, 2010, but only 466 entered new jobs upon completion of the program.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/work-scarce-obamas-green-job-training-grads/story?id=13420977