- Turn on continuity.

- [Andrea] A growing industry means a growing workforce.

- The employment opportunities are massive.

They're continuing to grow.

- The Steps for Growth Program is working to fill these talent needs.

It's a workforce development initiative focused on clean energy.

- We are intentionally building a clean-energy workforce system in North Carolina, doing it in a very different way.

- [Andrea] NC A&T launched the program and it's partnering with 16 community colleges, five universities, dozens of school districts, and over a thousand clean-energy industry partners.

- So it's an exciting time for all of this to be happening because their student interest as well as the ability to do something about it.

- It don't matter.

- [Andrea] Backed by a $23.7 million federal grant, the program is developing fast-track certification training for clean-energy careers.

- It's a great opportunity for a lot of students now to kind of jump into it and learn about beneficial electrification, smart-energy systems, microgrids, all of that.

It's just a broad spectrum of how you can impact sustainability.

- [Andrea] The training programs launching in the summer of 2023 include working with electric vehicles, solar tech, and energy-efficient HVAC tech.

Program leaders are also working with Carter at Community College and Craven Community College to develop pre-apprenticeship programs for offshore wind.

- We can bring in new ways of working, new groups of people, new demographics, and we can set up a way that really is more so reflective the America that we serve today, not the America 50 years ago.

- [Andrea] And with about 10,000 clean-energy jobs that need to be filled across North Carolina, program leaders say the steps for growth initiative will play a big role in filling those needs.

For "ncIMPACT," I'm Andrea Corona.