BuildItAZ Apprenticeship Initiative: More than $650,000 in grants are being awarded to five construction and trades registered apprenticeship programs. This round is the first phase of Gov. Katie Hobbsβ BuildItAZ Apprenticeship Initiative, which aims to double the number of construction trades registered apprentices by 2026.
The first-round grantees are:
Arizona Building Trades and Council
Phoenix Electrical Joint Apprenticeship and Training Program
Rummel Construction
The Laborers Training and Retraining Trust of Arizona
Tucson Electrical Joint Apprenticeship and Training Program
The grant program was made possible by a portion of Arizonaβs federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act funding. This first round of investments is expected to create additional training capacity for at least 1,500 apprentices over the next two years. Another round of funding is expected later this year.
Matthew Landon: Pima County Public Libraryβs Matthew Landon has been named a Mover & Shaker in the Community Builders category by Library Journal. The honor recognizes library staff nationwide whose work is deemed innovative, proactive, imaginative and brave.
Landon, one of 50 recipients of the honor, is a certified Youth Mental Health First Aid Provider working to change the conversation around mental health, addressing the stigma associated with it, and putting mental health related issues in the open. He created the libraryβs Youth Health Action Team, a youth-led project tackling mental and physical health challenges for teens and young adults living in a high-poverty community.
Presently, Landon works in the libraryβs Community Engagement Office where he manages adult programming and workforce development.
Pima County IDA: The Pima County Industrial Development Authority won the 2024 Single Family Award of Excellence from the National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies.
The Pima IDA won for the PimaTucson Lighthouse program, in collaboration with the City of Tucson Industrial Development Authority.
The PimaTucson Lighthouse program was launched in August 2023 through a joint issuance of single family mortgage revenue bonds by both the Pima IDA and the Tucson IDA, providing for nearly 400 home loans.
To learn more about the program, visit pimatucsonhomebuyers.com/lighthouse.
Construction continues on the former Solot Plaza, now known as Sol Block along East Broadway Boulevard on May 1. Local developer Larsen Baker was chosen by Rio Nuevo to redevelop the area and has had great success recruiting tenants to the future complex.
