As CEO Jon Williams began rapidly growing his company, he knew he’d need a robust workforce. And he also knew that he wanted that employee base to come from the business’ local community on the East Side.
Viridi Parente, located at 1001 East Delevan Ave., Buffalo, has developed both fixed and portable lithium-ion battery storage packs that are capable of storing renewable energy with fail-safe technology for the battery storage system.
“The challenge with our (workforce) system is that access to work is a two-way negotiation: employer and employee,” Williams said. “You have to basically address all the issues that they each have in order for that to be successful.”
After many talks with Jeffrey Conrad, who has worked in workforce development for decades, and meeting with organizations who work with many underrepresented and disenfranchised populations, GreenForce Training Inc. was born in July 2022.
The nonprofit was created to help companies recruit, train and support their workforces. The operations model aims to promote open jobs within the community, craft customized onboarding training that’s specific to the employer, provide case management services for staff who need more support and ensure employees are retained and supported during their first year working.
The only requirement is that applicants want to work and have the capacity to learn. Besides that, people's backgrounds and work experiences don't matter.
The organization’s inception was spearheaded by Viridi Parente and by partnerships with Bishop Michael Badger of Bethesda World Harvest International Church, Pastor James Giles of Back to Basics Outreach Ministries and Dwayne Gillison Sr. of Mt. Olive Baptist Church, all of whom are on GreenForce's board of directors. Conrad is executive director of GreenForce.
The late Heather Williams, executive director of the OSC Charitable Foundation and Jon Williams' wife, was also a board member. She died unexpectedly on Feb. 15.
Viridi has invested half a million dollars into the nonprofit.
“We had an employer that wanted to be part of the solution, not only helping the company but people and their growth,” said Conrad.
When the nonprofit launched last summer, Viridi was planning to hire about 500 employees. Last year, the company grew its local team from 40 to over 100 and its total employee count from 60 to about 130.
Williams expects to exceed 200 employees by the end of this year.
As of early this week, GreenForce had received 393 applications, 77% of which were within the four ZIP codes surrounding the Viridi plant. The nonprofit initially started out helping the employer with recruitment only as the training was in development.
Viridi has hired 15 people so far from that recruitment process, and GreenForce in November started training its first cohort of eight, according to Conrad.
The nonprofit teaches skills, like soft skills and safety, that could transfer to any manufacturing company, as well as customized hands-on training for Viridi specifically, like putting together and taking apart the business’ battery packs.
GreenForce stays in contact with placed workers for a year and help them connect with other supports through other organizations they might need like transportation or daycare.
The goal is to continue to refine the model and provide the same services for other employers. Conrad said the organization is in talks with several employers and expects by Q3 this year to add another employer or two.
“It doesn’t matter how good we are at training this population if there’s not a job,” Williams said.
