Brownfields Toolbox

• Distributing a survey instrument to potential employers, either the entire population or a representative sample; and/or
• Convening a focus group to collect information.

The information payback of a survey is valuable because of the number of employers you may reach. It is necessary to be realistic, however, about the effort and cost that goes into such a survey. Depending on the size of your market, your survey might be mailed or e-mailed to several hundred potential employers. It is important to identify the appropriate person to receive the survey. In most cases, it would be the supervisor of the occupation in which you are collecting the labor market information. Having the name of a specific person to complete the survey will tend to increase your response rate. Do not send the survey to the human resources department. If you plan to send the survey in the mail, be sure to include a cover letter explaining the purpose of the survey as well as a self-addressed stamped envelope to return the completed survey. Someone must be available to tabulate the survey results, whether by hand or by processing scannable answer sheets. The percentage of returned surveys can be low. Because of these challenges, surveying is best handled by institutions that provide administrative and financial support.

Focus groups may provide a less complete picture of the local market, but are easier to plan. You may arrange a meeting with ten to twelve industry leaders whose reputations indicate they are knowledgeable about the environmental field as well as about the community. The survey items are the focus of discussion. Be sure to thoroughly plan what information you want to collect during the focus group meeting. One advantage of conducting a focus group rather than a survey is you tend to collect more detailed information, and information you may not have considered that is useful in developing the training program. The main cost of the focus group is refreshments which can range from dessert to lunch, depending on your resources. An additional bonus is that some of those attending may become advisory committee members, who eventually would help you develop curricular goals and objectives for the training program.

Often, EPA Brownfields Job Development and Training grantees rely heavily on their advisory committee members, particularly local employers, to provide valuable insight into the types of jobs available at brownfields sites and the types of skills needed by area employers. To get a better sense of technician-level jobs in the environmental technology field, review the report, Defining Environmental Technology in the New Millennium. This report, published by the Advanced Technology Environmental Education Center (ATEEC) (http://www.ateec.org/), identifies ten occupational categories and corresponding tasks. Each occupational category includes examples of job titles and tasks typically performed in that area. For example, the occupational category of Site Management lists occupations often working at brownfields sites – decontamination technician, remediation technician, and underground storage tank technician. You may want to share the report with local employers and your advisory committee to help you narrow your focus on the types of environmental jobs to assess.

The advisory committee members and/or focus group may also recommend other employers to contact for additional labor market information. Find out what companies/organizations have worked or plan to work at the local brownfields sites. The types of employers may include:

• Engineering and environmental consulting firms
• Remediation firms
• Contractors/construction companies
• Local labor/trade unions (e.g., asbestos and lead abatement)

While there are Web sites that provide national and state labor market information, the Brownfields Job Development and Training grantees have found community-specific information to be the most useful. The grantees recommend working with local employers, the Chamber of Commerce, and professional organizations to help identify where the jobs are. Following are examples of professional environmental organizations to contact, some of which have state and local chapters:

• Academy of Certified Hazardous Materials Managers (http://www.ahmpnet.org/)
• Air and Waste Management Association (http://www.awma.org)
• Environmental Assessment Association (http://www.eaa-assoc.org)
• Institute of Hazardous Materials Management (http://www.ihmm.org)
• National Association of Environmental Professionals (http://www.naep.org)
• National Society of Professional Engineers (http://www.nspe.org)
• Society of Women Environmental Professionals (http://swepweb.com)

Regardless of the strategy for collecting data, the following types of information should be requested:

• Type and size of the organization as well as its products and/or services;
• Type and number of environmental technicians employed by the organization;
• Wage for entry-level environmental technicians;
• Minimum level of education required and preferred for full-time employment as an environmental technician;
• Required work experience for employment as an entry-level environmental technician;
• Degree of difficulty finding qualified environmental technicians;
• Projected number of full-time and part-time job openings for environmental technicians; and
• Types of training the organization would like its employees or prospective employees to have.

A sample Labor Market Assessment Survey for Environmental Technology is provided at the end of this chapter.