The Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) project will provide clean, renewable hydropower to New Yorkers as part of New York State’s goal of ensuring 100 percent zero-emission electricity by 2040. The fully permitted transmission line to be buried underground and underwater from Quebec to Astoria, Queens will playa key role in the state’s energy transformation, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, creating jobs and generating billions of dollars in new investment in New York’s economy.

CHPE committed to support disadvantaged communities, low-income individuals, and transitioning fossil fuel workers (the “target population”) in accessing and building careers in New York State’s green economy by creating a $40 million Green Economy Fund (GEF). The GEF will finance workforce development programs and organizations providing wrap-around services that connect and support workers in these target communities to good jobs in the green economy.

As a team, Karp Strategies and subconsultant Empowering Work Advising (EWA) were selected to launch and administer the Fund, including designing and administering the RFP/grantee application and selection process; overseeing administration of grants; and supporting tracking and reporting of grant outcomes. KS and EWA also support CHPE in liaising with members of the GEF’s Advisory Board, which represents local workforce development experts, labor unions, housing authorities, community-based organizations, business groups, environmental non-profits, academics, and other leading organizations from across New York State. This work draws on Karp Strategies’ expansive knowledge of New York stakeholders, state and local workforce development priorities, grant management, and the clean energy sector, to deliver a tightly administered GEF. Karp Strategies is also employing a data-driven approach to support recruitment of a diverse and inclusive pool of potential grant applicants in the fund’s early rounds.

In the process, Karp Strategies and EWA are aiding New York state’s transition to a green economy as well as ensuring workforce development opportunities for low income and disadvantaged New Yorkers.