Serve Learn Earn coalition asks legislature to fund paid youth workforce programs tied to conservation and clean-energy jobs

Serve Learn Earn coalition leaders told the Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee on Jan. 15 that steady state support has scaled paid, cohort-based training across trades, green jobs and outdoor recreation and urged the Legislature to keep the program in the Forests, Parks & Recreation base budget.

The coalition’s presenters — identified in testimony as Rex (presenter) and Kate Wapman, director of Serve Learn Earn — described a four-organization partnership that has enrolled roughly 1,500 participants over three years and served about 600 people in the most recent year. They said roughly 70% of this year’s 600 participants are under age 24 and that many trainees face barriers including poverty, addiction or justice involvement.

Rex said the coalition’s design emphasizes cohort-based training and community building rather than isolated, one-off placements. “Programs don’t save lives, relationships do,” he told the committee. He added that coalition members aim to use state dollars for direct program costs — wages, stipends, transportation, uniforms and tools — while private philanthropy covers administrative capacity and a new data manager position.

Kate Wapman outlined partner programs that feed the coalition’s pipeline: Audubon’s junior conservation technician and sugarbush management programs, farm crews that grow organic produce distributed through a health-care share program (the coalition cited about $70,000 of produce produced last year), trail crews that build and maintain public infrastructure, and short intensive trainings that pair credentialing with on-the-job employer placements. Wapman described credentials and short trainings for construction safety, chainsaw safety and field-first aid; she said one credential mentioned in testimony was identified as “CPA 608” for certain installation work.

The presenters said the coalition’s total program budget exceeds $10 million annually, of which roughly $2 million has come from public funding in recent years. Since receiving public funds, they said about $3,250,000 has flowed back into Vermont in wages and savings. The coalition’s current legislative request is $2.5 million, up from last year’s ask; leaders asked that the funding be placed in the base budget of Forests, Parks & Recreation so support is not year-to-year.

Committee members asked about coordination with existing career and technical education (CTE) centers and higher-education partners. The coalition said it already partners with CTE programs for recruitment and with community college campuses and Vermont State University for credit pathways; they also noted flexible pathways and dual-enrollment legislation has allowed some of their high-school programs to offer academic credit. Coalition leaders said they work to avoid competing with CTE centers by offering largely summer and after‑school programs and by helping students transition into formal CTE and higher-education offerings.

Presenters emphasized workforce gaps for climate-related projects such as trail building, habitat restoration and heat-pump installation and said continued state support helps expand program length, geographic reach and credentialing. They cited private philanthropy and federal grant opportunities — including pursuit of Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities funds via the Northern Border Regional Commission — as complementary revenue streams.

Committee members did not take action on the request. Leaders left committee members with supplemental materials and offered to follow up with the 7 Days article referenced in testimony and with more detailed outcome and ROI data.

Looking ahead, coalition leaders said they are pursuing a privately funded data manager role to measure outcomes across partners and better quantify return on investment in wages and placements.