On July 6, 2021 the Worcester Green Corps (WGC) was officially launched with a kickoff celebration to formally establish its formation at the city’s iconic Elm Park. That was day one. The WGC is a public/private partnership between the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce (Chamber), the City of Worcester, and the United Way of Central Massachusetts (United Way) to create a sustainable year-round effort to clean and beautify the city.

The WGC partnership includes collaborations with organizations like the Worcester Community Action Council (WCAC), MassHire Central Workforce Board (MassHire), and the Regional Environmental Council (REC). In partnering with WCAC through their YouthWorks Summer Jobs Program, the WGC deployed nearly 20 young people who worked throughout the city during the months of July and August on several cleanups and beautification projects. This effort was supported financially in part by Fallon Health, National Grid, and the Worcester Business Development Corporation (WBDC).

Additionally, each Friday during the six-week program, these young people heard presentations and took tours of businesses and public facilities, such as the city’s water filtration plant, for example. This gave the youth participating in the program the opportunity to learn about education and career pathways in the environmental and green job sectors — which are growing at a rapid rate.

The summer initiative by these WGC crews covered approximately 30 miles, 137 streets, and several parks, resulting in the collection of more than 4,000 pounds of trash and debris. Our WGC Coordinator Miranda Hotham is now working on engaging partner organizations, various stakeholders, and community groups across the city to organize volunteer and sponsored cleanups for the rest of the year as a means of complementing the WGC summer initiative. The Chamber’s board of directors committed to hiring and paying the WGC Coordinator position on a fulltime basis in order to facilitate this year-round effort. Having Miranda wholly dedicated to developing these partnerships and identifying the needed resources to fi ll existing gaps is a critical part of the operation.

However, beyond the cleanup and beautification efforts which are a major thrust of the WGC initiative, the WGC Coordinator will also work to develop programming and educational materials to assist our member businesses in ways they can engage in environmental best practices that save these businesses money and contribute to combating climate change.

During my time as Mayor, Worcester was one of the first communities in Massachusetts to establish a Climate Action Plan and a Greenhouse Gas Emissions inventory focusing on steps a municipality could take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions overtime. Similarly, as Lt. Gov. working with Gov. Patrick and the legislature, we passed legislation like the Green Community Act and Global Warming Solutions Act which incentivized the development and use of renewable green energy such as solar and wind. Likewise, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative facilitated new investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy programs for Massachusetts residents and businesses.

Through these experiences, it was important for government to help lead, facilitate, and model environmental best practices wherever possible. However, to dramatically reduce the factors contributing to climate change and its adverse impact, we must engage our businesses whenever possible to inform them of new technologies and practices that can assist them in reducing their carbon footprint in a cost-effective manner. This is particularly important for our small businesses that power our regional and national economy. This business outreach will include actively promoting our members currently working in the Green Jobs and renewable energy space to fellow members. We are looking forward to meeting this challenge as we seek to protect our environment and strengthen our local economy.

If you’re looking to help us achieve this mission of making Worcester a cleaner, greener, more sustainable, and more beautiful place to live, work, visit, and do business, I recommend reaching out to WGC Coordinator Miranda Hotham to find out specific ways in which you can get involved in the Worcester Green Corps’ efforts right now.

 

This article was first published in The Chamber Exchange: The Newspaper (August edition 2021)