Obama Presidential Center officials commit to hiring 35% of construction workforce from South, West

[mucifer]

The Obama Foundation announced Wednesday that more than a third of its construction hires for the upcoming presidential center will hail from South and West Side neighborhoods as part of a drive to give jobs to the Chicago communities that bolstered the rise of the nation’s first Black president.

When groundbreaking on the Obama Presidential Center — tentatively set for August — begins, 35% of the construction workers on the project will be residents of South and West Side neighborhoods such as Austin, Lawndale, Englewood, Woodlawn, South Shore and Washington Park, Obama Foundation chief engagement officer Mike Strautmanis said in an interview. That commitment was because former President Barack Obama wants the legacy that will be enshrined in his presidential center in Jackson Park to honor the city that he credits with the genesis of his swift rise in politics.

“One of the first things that President Obama asked me to do was to drive access for the community to the jobs that he knew we were going to create through this construction project,” Strautmanis said. “We know that there are challenges and barriers to create the kind of workforce that would have Chicagoans and particularly the South siders see themselves in this project.”

Foundation officials did not have estimates Wednesday on how many construction jobs they will hire, but a news release said as much as 5,000 jobs could be generated during and after construction, whether directly or not. Construction is expected to take four years.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-obama-presidential-center-construction-south-west-sides-20210310-hzlmza73g5hbvmypaa3khwncui-story.html

It's gonna look like this:




https://www.obama.org/the-center-lp/

[cilla4progress]

1. Bucket list,

for sure!

So happy for the Obamas now. How gratifying. I had ulcers for them from 2016 till about now!