How ex-offenders get a second chance and a new career in rural Tennessee. Is it a model for Philly?

A local energy cooperative in Colorado, Delta Montrose Electric Association, is spurring economic development through renewable energy. The program has allowed Delta County to diversify energy sources, and has become a tool for economic revitalization.

Since 2015, the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship, with support by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), has worked to help dairy farmers transfer skills and opportunities to a new generation. Thus far, slmost 70 apprentices have graduated from the program as independent journeyworkers, and 59 farmer-apprentice pairs are currently active across the country.

Transfr is a tech company that provides free virtual reality job training and education to help facilitate employment opportunities. Transfr specifically focuses on providing these opportunities for disadvantaged people in places like domestic violence shelters, mental health clinics, juvenile detention centers and state correctional institutions where access to skill-building and further education is often hard to access. So far Transfr has 30 partnerships across 18 states.

South Dakota technical colleges partner closely with the renewable energy industry through specialized academic programs, responsive curriculum changes, and targeted scholarships, effectively addressing workforce shortages, achieving high-paying job placements, and catalyzing local economic growth.

Toyota is building a battery plant in the small town of Liberty, North Carolina, and ushering in an economic revival. Along with the thousands of jobs it is expected to bring to the area, the company is working with community colleges and paying students to complete programs in which they learn the necessary skills to work at the plant.

“Grow your own” programs, like Reach University’s, are working to address teacher shortages, particularly in rural areas, by recruiting school employees who don’t have college or education degrees and giving them a chance to earn an undergraduate degree in education at just $75 a month. Participants take courses online and take 15 hours out of their work week to spend time observing and training in classrooms. So far 84% of all parishes across the state have signed up to take Reach trainees, which could put a significant dent in the statewide teacher vacancy issue.

A workforce development initiative, PowerCorpsPHL, pays participants to learn skills and gain hands-on experience for jobs that offer long-term career opportunity in the field of environmental sustainability. Participants generally have criminal records or have been in the foster care system. In addition to job training and education, PowerCorpsPHL also provides services such as mental health counseling, securing childcare, navigating SNAP and AmeriCorps tuition benefits and helping with paperwork. The program helps 92 percent of participants secure either a job or post-secondary education.

A company in Portland, Maine works to "dignify temp-work" through the employment of former convicts, addicts, and other individuals in rough transitional phases of life. The company operates as a for-profit business working for social good and facilitates a daily meeting for workers to check in with each other and form a supportive community.

For people reentering society after prison, the Reentry Initiative offers them the services and support they need. The program, housed at California State San Bernardino, provides former inmates the tools they need to avoid recidivism and rebuild their lives. Some of the classes offered are computer literacy, job readiness, and anger management – but fundamental to it all is cultivating a culture of respect and community amongst participants.

Unlike many other small Montana towns, the community of Three Forks has managed to humbly thrive by investing in several economic drivers rather than rely solely on the railroad as its only large employer. With booming talc and cement plants as well as new entrepreneurial spirit, Three Forks remains steady and continues to renovate for tourists and town-folk alike.