The National Community Action Foundation/ExxonMobil Weatherization Training Partnership has selected the following organizations as recipients of grant funds to support their training of workers for careers in energy efficiency. These grant recipients proposed the most innovative approaches and partnerships to enhance training for workers delivering weatherization services.

• Action Housing Inc., Pittsburgh, PA
• Energy Coordinating Agency, Philadelphia, PA
• Indiana Community Action Association, Indianapolis, IN
• Community Services Agency, Reno, NV
• Association for Energy Affordability, Inc., New York, NY
• Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development, Athens, OH
• Community Housing Partners Corporation, Christiansburg, VA
• Community Action Team Inc., St. Helens, OR
• Montana Weatherization Training Center at MSU, Bozeman, MT

The announcement was made at the 2009 Community Investment Futures Energy Conference in St. Petersburg, FL earlier this month. Details of individual grants are being finalized, and grant amounts range from $300,000 to nearly $1 million. In August, the Partnership awarded a $100,000 demonstration to a group of Ohio agencies who have teamed up to form a weatherization training partnership.

“By creating novel training models and building capacity of energy efficiency programs, today’s recipients are making the country more energy efficient, helping American workers build careers and supporting community economic development,” said David Bradley, executive director of the National Community Action Foundation.

“The winners of the ExxonMobil/NCAF grants are combining the expertise of community action agencies, educators, workforce development experts and the private sector to give weatherization workers the best tools to help communities take advantage of one of our greatest resources – energy efficiency,” said Sherman Glass, president of ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Company.

The NCAF/ExxonMobil Partnership Advisory Board reviewed more than 100 letters of interest from organizations across the country. The board selected the final nine proposals based on their ability to form meaningful partnerships with organizations from other sectors, to create models that will help prepare weatherization workers to pursue a career in energy efficiency, and to build the capacity of weatherization programs to achieve the goal of making nearly 750,000 homes more energy efficient as established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

ExxonMobil donated $5 million to NCAF to support projects that will expand the scale and scope of existing training programs so that workers are well prepared for sustainable careers in the growing fields of energy efficiency and weatherization. ExxonMobil’s grant is the largest private contribution to community organizations that work with the Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program.