San Antonio City Council approved unanimously last week $185 million in contracts for a workforce development program designed to help locals move into higher-wage positions.
The SA Ready to Work program anticipates it will get about 40,000 applicants and its goal is to train 36,000 people and find jobs for at least 28,000. The council vote allocated $102.4 million to Workforce Solutions Alamo, $49.3 million to Alamo Colleges, $5.1 million for Restore Education and $26.4 million to Project Quest. Each is a three-year contract and to maintain funding, the programs will be required by the city to demonstrate an 80% success rate of finding jobs for participants.
H-E-B, USAA, Frost Bank, CPS Energy, HOLT Cat, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas and more than 100 other local employers have committed to hiring individuals trained through SA Ready to Work.
The program's formal application process will be available in April. City residents can call 311 if interested in pre-registration. Applicants must be 18 years old, eligible to work in the U.S. and San Antonio residents. Income levels must be below approximately $34,000 for individuals or $69,000 for a couple with two children.
The program is patterned after Train for Jobs SA, which the city rolled out at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Its intent was to help 10,000 residents affected by the economic downturn. Fewer than 1,200 participants in the original program have been placed in new jobs.
Before Thursday's vote, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said he hoped that the new contracts would help offset barriers some professionals have faced due to overwhelming student loans, lack of child care or systemic bias.
The program was first placed on the ballot in November 2020. Councilman Clay Perry voted against putting the measure on the ballot and was the only sitting council member to object.
