Weatherization Boot Camp

A Weatherization Boot Camp is being held to expose young men and women to the work entry-level weatherization installers do.

The young people are doing classroom and field work in the experimental initiative started by the State of Wisconsin.

The Social Development Commission is working with the Northwest Side CDC and Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board (MAWIB) in coordinating the job-training program.

The intense week-long course has the goal of providing up to 50 Milwaukee area young people with hands-on experience of weatherization installation work as well as help with finding a full-time job that provides a family support wage.

By working with professional weatherization contractors, the young people are learning techniques at the Boot Camp that will help them as they pursue their new careers.

One work team got first-hand experience by working on a home located near 18th and Olive on Milwaukee’s northside.  The young people learned how to perform a home pressurization test to check for and identify air leaks in the home.

They also found out how to blow insulation in the exterior walls of the house, both tasks they would be called upon to do if employed by a weatherizing business or agency.

Steve Schuettke of the SDC Weatherization Program notes that the Weatherization Boot Camp will help the young men and women gain the skills needed to become weatherization installers.

He adds there is room for them to grow professionally once established in that role by working to become an energy auditor or a crew leader.

A final Boot Camp will be held in the near future before the state assesses the success of the pilot project and determines whether to continue it.