Worcester Business Journal

10 Worcester Business Journal • August 1, 2016 www.wbjournal.com plished with local partners across the commonwealth," said Jay Ash, secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, which admin- isters the program. MassWorks is a funding program that consolidated administration of six other grant programs in order to provide effi- cient access grant funding to municipali- ties and other eligible public entities for infrastructure projects to support eco- nomic development and job creation and retention, housing development and transportation improvements such as roadways, streetscapes and water sys- tems, investing more than $357 million since 2011. The concept was developed under former Gov. Deval Patrick, but its annual funding has increased more than 50 percent since Gov. Charlie Baker took office. "I really love MassWorks," said Wendy Wiiks, grant administrator for Leominister. "We really understood the process from the beginning … It is one of the best programs I've ever worked with in terms of process." Central Mass. funding Baker initial budget proposal in January for fiscal 2017 called for $500 million over five years for MassWorks. As the legislative session wound down, that figure looked to be $330 million over three years, but – either way – that represented an increase of 18 to 30 per- cent in funding for the program. That increase came after fiscal 2016 itself was a big boost over the $66.8 mil- lion in fiscal 2015. "I am a fan [of MassWorks]," said Heather Gould, chief of staff for the eco- nomic development officer in Worcester. "You are able to develop a good working relationship…with the same staff. You are familiar with what the state is look- ing for." Worcester has benefitted from three different rounds of MassWorks funding supporting urban revitalization projects such as the City Square project and a multi-phase rebuild of parts of Main Street. Worcester has received $27.3 mil- lion in MassWorks funding to support the $565 million CitySquare project, along with $2 million to help the flow of traffic along Quinsigamond Avenue toward downtown. "MassWorks allows municipalities to leverage state funding to unlock signifi- cant private investment, pursuing strate- gic infrastructure improvements that support long-term, sustainable econom- ic prosperity," Ash said. MassWorks awarded $85.6 million for 46 communities in fiscal 2015 out of more than $245 million in infrastructure requests, including about $16 million to Central Massachusetts. The $16 million Central Massachusetts has received represents a significant share of the MassWorks budget, especially considering, each year, MassWorks allocates 10 percent of the awarded funds to assist municipali- ties with populations of 7,000 or less for Baker, legislature keep focus on economic development projects As Massachusetts focuses on filling the workforce skills gap, workforce development advocates said tapping into the state's incarcerated population could help fill those needs, while at the same time hopefully reducing recidivism and creating productive members of society. "The single biggest issue we hear from members is workforce pipeline capacity, from employers from all different sec- tors and all different sizes. Whatever we can do to get as many qualified and motivated employees in the field is going to benefit employers," said Timothy Murray, president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. Underutilized workforce January data from the Massachusetts Department of Correction show its pop- ulation in Massachusetts is dropping. As of Jan 1., there were 10,014 inmates in Massachusetts jails, compared to 11,723 in 2012 and 10,813 in 2015. Of the 9,355 total males under the state's jurisdiction, 96 percent were serv- ing a sentence longer than three years while 59 percent of the 659 females under the state's jurisdiction were sen- tenced for longer than three years. Daniel Asquino, MWCC president, has been a strong advocate for using the this population to fill workforce needs. "Education is a page turner for a num- ber of individuals. It really provides entry into a good job. It's the right thing to do, a from humanitarian point of view," Asquino said. The federal grant isn't MWCC's first foray into training the incarcerated for jobs. In January, the college began offer- ing a workforce training program with the Worcester County Sheriff 's Office for inmates at the Worcester County Jail & House of Correction. The program offers industry readiness training to interested inmates in four different modules with 15 students each: blue- print reading, measurement tools, com- puter skills and lean quality, said Lisa Gobi, director of education at the Worcester County Sheriff 's Office. The classes are part of Mount Wachusett's manufacturing certificate, offered at the school's Devens campus, Gobi said. Inmates could go finish their certificate on campus after their release. "A lot of these students don't know where to begin. The younger popula- tion, they don't have many skills, or maybe they've never worked," she said. "This just kind of gives them an edge up on and a little bit of empowerment, because they have something they can walk out of here with. Their time in here isn't wasted. They're working towards something that can be useful." Productive members of society According to a January policy brief from MassINC, a bipartisan think tank geared towards supporting the state's middle class, about two-thirds of defen- dants Massachusetts sends to state and county prisons are repeat offenders. Former offenders are less likely to be jailed again if they are able to secure a good job upon their release, but those who enter low-wage, non-steady employment as just as likely to commit crimes again as ex-offenders without a job, according to MassINC. The value of transitional employment and training, which are offered by many re-entry programs, also seems to be lim- ited, the brief found, because it's difficult to connect ex-offenders with steady, unsubsidized jobs. As of Jan. 1, the average institutional length of stay for the Massachusetts DOC jurisdiction population was nearly two and a half years, according to the department. The majority of 2015 crimi- nally sentenced releases (37 percent) were sent back into the community with no supervision, followed closely by pro- bation (35 percent), parole (18 percent) and parole and probation (11 percent). Worcester County Sheriff Lewis Evangelidis said he hears this loud and clear. The first-term sheriff said he's happy with how inmates have responded to and benefitted from the MWCC job training program so far, but also said he knows there's a lot of work to be done, especially when it comes to connecting inmates with sustainable employment. "One of my goals is to assemble a business development council that would work with sheriff 's department on placement. I'm very interested in assembling a group of business leaders that would help me integrate people into the workforce," he said. This could benefit qualified inmates who have demonstrated engagement with their training and interest in turn- ing their lives around, Evangelidis said. "I always like to reiterate: We don't coddle inmates. We don't have the resources, time or patience to do that, but we do give people an honest oppor- tunity to turn their life around," he said. "We're here to help you, but you need to help yourself. We'll meet you halfway … >> Continued from Page 1 Turning convicts into colleagues >> Continued from Page 1 Source: MassWorks Fitchburg Main & River streets improvements $3.05 million Marlborough East Main Street $2.7 million Worcester Quinsigamond Avenue improvements $2 million Gardner Garbose Metal factory remediation $2 million Gardner Rear Main Street corridor $1.2 million Worcester CitySquare $1 million Hubbardston Old Westminster Road paving $1 million Royalston Winchendon Road $985,000 Lancaster Manufacturing sewer service $980,000 New Braintree Road improvements $768,745 Uxbridge Route 16 sewer pipe replacement $250,000 Paxton Reservoir Road Culverts $39,200 For fiscal 2015, Central Massachusetts communities received $16 million from the MassWorks program for various infrastructure projects. MassWorks projects Worcester County Sheriff Lewis Evangelidis sees job training and inmate education as important contributors to reducing recidivism among convicts. Korey Garrigan, an inmate at the Worcester County Jail & House of Correction, displays the certificates he earned through the Mount Wachusett Community College-led job training program. P H O T O / E D D C O T E P H O T O / E D D C O T E

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