548 Foundation aims to create a pipeline of solar energy workers through its training program

On a warm spring day last month, students in a solar training program in Douglass Park learned to build a roof that could support solar panels. They wore safety glasses and fluorescent vests as they listened to their instructor. Then they used power tools to assemble a wooden frame.

For about a year, the Chicago-based 548 Foundation’s Clean Energy Training Program has offered 10- to 13-week courses teaching skills to help students land jobs in the state’s burgeoning solar industry.

The training is geared toward people facing barriers such as limited education, low literacy and criminal records. Some are non-native English speakers or grew up in the foster system. The current cohort has 18 students aged 18 to 45, predominantly from the South and West sides. Most are men, though three are women.

One student, 26-year-old Moises Vega of Humboldt Park, learned to use a pneumatic nail gun for the first time.

The course “is giving me and a lot of people hope. Growth is capable among all of us,” Vega said, who previously worked as an electrician.

Instructors like Michael Thomas and Marques Jones, who graduated from the program last year, serve as role models for students. “The program re-affirms me,” Vega said. “I never had anyone in my life to be an example like that.”

The Clean Energy Training Program pays students $18 an hour to take classes weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. It helps them earn professional certifications and prepares them for job interviews with solar and construction companies hiring in Illinois. Funding for the program comes from state grants, the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, Summit Ridge Energy and other sources.

Since 548 Foundation started the program in April 2023, more than 60 students in four cohorts have graduated. The next class of 27 trainees starts in early fall and is already full.

The foundation offers additional funding for students who may be experiencing hardship that could prevent them from completing the program such as challenges with transportation, housing and child care.

Some students have backgrounds in construction and carpentry, but it’s not a requirement; others have work experience in retail and restaurants. And the program can work around special situations such as house arrest.

Students have to be accepted into the program — first filling out an online application followed by an in-person Test of Adult Basic Education in math and reading. If applicants pass the exam, they’re interviewed. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and have a high school diploma or equivalency.

Conflict resolution in a solar training course

The program offers more than technical solar industry training. The first weeks are devoted to life skills such as conflict resolution, mediation and managing “self-sabotage” behavior that keeps them from success, said Jalani Roy, interim director of intake and placement for the 548 Foundation.

Some students “couldn’t fathom that this program could work,” Roy said.

About 80% of participants finish the course, Roy said. In this spring’s cohort, five out of 23 students were removed for behavior that violated its code of conduct.

Vega said the course teaches important interpersonal skills that can “help people who might not have communication and problem-solving skills, who were not regulating what they need to regulate.”

“Now people can go out into society and handle problems differently than they would have before,” he said.

The lessons help students “evaluate what’s upsetting you, be less reactive and learn to take a step back.” Vega said managing emotions helps with safety in the construction industry where workers operate tools and heavy equipment.

The course also covers job search and interview skills and features a career fair with companies hiring for solar industry positions. More than 80% of students get jobs that pay an average of $24 an hour, according to the 548 Foundation.

Companies that have hired or recruited from the program include ADL Solutions, Blue Raven Solar, Cortese Energy, Nexamp, GRNE, Pepper Construction, Sunrun, Solar Mite, Knobelsdorff, Second City Solar and Show Strategy.

A bright solar industry

Demand for workers in clean energy industries is projected to expand nationwide with the biggest growth projected for solar. The number of solar photovoltaic installers across the country is expected to reach 35,900 in 2032, up from 29,400 in 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Momentum for renewable energy in Illinois has been catalyzed by the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in 2021. CEJA aims to reduce carbon emissions from energy and transportation through rebate and grant programs for electric vehicles and charging stations and also by phasing out fossil fuel-fired power plants.

Under the law, Illinois became the first Midwestern state to mandate a carbon-free future, with the goal to be fueled entirely by clean energy by 2050, though progress in reaching that goal has been slow.

There are more than 123,000 clean energy jobs in Illinois with 85,000 of those in Chicago, according to Clean Jobs Midwest. Small businesses dominate the sector with 73% of the state’s clean energy firms employing fewer than 20 people.

“There’s no better time to jump into the solar industry and give back. It’s so broad and these are new skills,” Roy said. “It’s truly going to change the world.”

In addition to environmental sustainability, 548 Enterprise — parent company of the 548 Foundation — is mission-driven on other levels. 548 refers to the address where founder A.J. Patton grew up in public housing in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Patton started his career as an analyst for Duke Realty’s real estate portfolio. He then moved to the Chicago area to work at investment fund Equities First in Schaumburg before starting 548 Enterprise in 2016.

The company started as a development firm creating solar-powered affordable housing and began rehabbing and creating energy-efficient multifamily housing in Chicago. 548 Enterprise added solar installation and workforce development after not seeing enough representation in the communities it worked in.

The group also broadly focuses on helping minority-owned general contractors access capital and credit to grow their businesses, according to its website.

Changing mindsets

During the cohort’s training day last month, students learned about electrical wiring and using tools.

For Vega, the technical skills weren’t the most challenging part. Rather, it was building trust and community among classmates from different backgrounds.

At the start of the program, he said some students “might not feel safe,” but weeks of learning together, “makes us feel closer to one another.”

Roy said self-sabotaging behavior is one of the biggest challenges for students. It’s difficult to “recognize you have to change your mindset, your environment, maybe stop hanging out with the people you used to hang out with,” she said. Some students “don’t want to let go of old behaviors.”

Enrolling in the course and getting a formal job is a big change for many students that might spark attacks by peers, and getting a salaried position at a company “is so unreal for some of them, it’s hard to imagine. They don’t believe it,” Roy said.

Challenges still persist after finishing the course and getting a job. Adjusting to work and staying on track is tough, so the 548 Foundation offers students 18 months of support services after completing the program.

Case managers help keep program alumni stay the course. Well-paid new hires might travel for work for the first time to other states such as Minnesota and Wisconsin.

“Learning how to budget is difficult for them. They want to take their paychecks and party,” Roy said.

She said even after the program, the 548 Foundation reminds graduates that they must “stay focused, remember the mission and don’t let the outside factors stop you.”