Report: Green Cincinnati plan could create tens of thousands of jobs, but training and equity gaps must be closed

A workforce analysis released to the Cincinnati Climate, Environment and Infrastructure Committee says implementing the Green Cincinnati Plan could generate $11 billion in economic activity and create between 16,000 and 44,000 new jobs, including 6,000 to 17,000 jobs the study classifies as “green jobs.”

The analysis, prepared by the Cincinnati Regional Chamber’s Center for Research and Data and presented by Brandon Rudd, found that meeting the plan’s goals would require between $2.6 billion and $5.7 billion in direct investment (public and private). "We identified our team identified a 114 green jobs," Rudd told the committee, and used an input-output model to estimate broader occupational impacts across 799 occupations.

Why it matters: The report ties climate and resilience investments directly to regional economic growth and workforce opportunity. Committee Chairwoman Mika Owens said the plan’s workforce target — "training 4,000 folks by 2028" — is central to ensuring Cincinnati residents share in the economic benefits. Presenters and council members said the scale of construction and building work in the plan makes workforce and training strategy a priority if the city is to capture local jobs.

Key findings presented

- Investment and economic impact: The report estimates $2.6 billion to $5.7 billion in direct spending will produce roughly $11 billion in total economic output once multiplier effects are included. Rudd said the larger effects reflect high local multipliers in construction and related services.

- Jobs estimates: The study projects 16,000–44,000 new jobs across the economy tied to plan investments; of those, 6,000–17,000 would fall into the 114 green occupations the study identified. Rudd noted that 60%–65% of the new jobs are expected to be outside the narrowly defined green occupations (for example, restaurant and retail jobs that support construction workers).

- Workforce composition and barriers: The current workforce in the identified green occupations is heavily skewed: presenters reported roughly 90% male and about 80% white. The report lists barriers including transportation, childcare, housing, math skills, limited awareness of green-job pathways, driver’s-license requirements and limited local training capacity.

- Education and wages: The presenters said most of the 114 green occupations require a high school diploma or less and that about 89% of those jobs meet a living-wage threshold using the MIT living-wage calculator for the Cincinnati metro area. Rudd summarized the economic opportunity: "These are good paying jobs with low barrier to entry."

Recommendations and next steps discussed

Presenters offered 10 recommendations and highlighted five priorities for the committee and partners: expand training and upskilling (apprenticeships, certifications and paid training); remove barriers that limit participation by people of color and women; align curricula across K–12, Cincinnati State and other institutions to include sustainability; strengthen employer partnerships and industry coalitions; and build centralized data and accountability systems to track progress.

Thanapat Vichichot, an executive fellow working with the city and Fuse on workforce implementation, described outreach and coalition-building underway, and said the Office of Environment and Sustainability and partners are pursuing BPI (Building Performance Institute) training options because there are currently no BPI testing or training sites in Cincinnati. "We have the opportunity to potentially launch as quickly as two months," Vichichot said, noting that market-analysis work and surveys of potential trainees remain underway.

Equity, unions and local hiring

Committee members asked how the report treated unions and local hiring. Presenters said unions and apprenticeship councils were partners in the Good Green Jobs coalition; Rudd and Vichichot both referenced participation by the AFL-CIO and the Greater Cincinnati Apprenticeship Council. The Chamber noted its minority-business accelerator and examples of minority-owned construction firms as pathways to more inclusive ownership and workplace culture.

Several council members emphasized keeping jobs local and expanding the city’s prime working-age population (ages 25–54). Rudd said Cincinnati’s 25–54 cohort is about 38% of the population — low compared with peer cities — and said immigration and retention of young workers are key levers for expanding the local workforce.

Implementation caveats and evidence gaps

Presenters cautioned that the investment totals include both public and private spending (for example, household investments in rooftop solar) and that projections depend on the pace of external funding and program launches (including federal incentives such as the Inflation Reduction Act and potential state home-energy programs). Rudd said the team used a range of investment scenarios to account for coordination or lack of coordination across actions.

The report also identified gaps in local training capacity (for example, no nearby BPI testing site) and recommended short-term actions: convening training providers, launching targeted BPI courses, expanding apprenticeship slots, and creating a data hub so workforce providers can coordinate and measure outcomes.

What the committee did

Chairwoman Mika Owens announced the presentation would be filed with committee records at the meeting’s close. No formal motion or vote on policy or funding was recorded at the meeting; committee members asked questions and received responses from presenters and OES staff.

Noted participants and follow-up

Presenters asked the committee to consider aligning funding and policies to accelerate training and to support partners such as Green Umbrella, Co-op Cincy and the Urban League’s Building Futures program in scaling cohorts and certifications. City staff and Chamber representatives left contact information and referenced the full report and appendices, which contain occupation-level spreadsheets and partner summaries.