Richmond City Council
October 1, 2024

Community Outreach and Findings Report
Introduction
The City of Richmond is ready to advance towards a safe, healthy, equitable, resilient, and sustainable future. The Richmond Green-Blue New Deal Plan (GBND) will establish strategic direction and programs that support community well-being, foster economic development, and reinforce environmental protection citywide. The City is actively supporting the process of developing a plan for a Richmond Green-Blue New Deal and Just Transition to 21st Century Jobs.1 In developing this plan, the City of Richmond committed to designing and implementing an inclusive and dynamic engagement process to ensure the GBND is based on robust and genuine feedback from the community, civic and city leaders, labor leaders, and the private sector .

This Community Outreach and Findings Report has been prepared by MIG, Inc. for review by Appraccel, LLC and the City of Richmond City Manager’s office. This report summarizes the community outreach activities and findings to help ensure a community-driven Richmond Green-Blue New Deal Plan (plan).

Overview
Outreach Goals and Objectives
The following goals and objectives were developed to guide community outreach and help ensure the Green-Blue New Deal plan will support the City of Richmond in achieving racially equitable community outcomes that foster a healthy and inclusive community for all. • Leverage local networks and existing community engagement efforts. Build on the variety and depth of existing community involvement initiatives in Richmond to engage the public effectively and efficiently in the Green-Blue New Deal plan. Tap into existing community-based networks of local leaders and groups to connect with a wider range of community members. • Identify barriers to participation. Cultivate an understanding of existing or potential barriers to the full participation of all community members, particularly communities of color and low-income populations, in developing the Green-Blue New Deal plan. • Create opportunities for inclusive and equitable participation. Provide multiple and varied opportunities for a broad range of community members, businesses, and interest groups to share meaningful input.
• Collaborate and inform decision-making. Collect useful and relevant public input that reflects local expertise and values and informs decision-making related to the Green-Blue New Deal plan. • Build long-term capacity for civic engagement around workforce development. Build social capital and support those engaged through the process to stay involved and share not only concerns and issues, but also solutions and strategies necessary to implement the Green-Blue New Deal plan.

Outreach Activities
A variety of outreach activities were conducted to ensure a broad range of community members and organizations had the opportunity to provide meaningful input.

1 https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/4138/Green-Blue-New-Deal-and-Just-Transition 1244

• Community Champions. A dedicated group of Community Champions helped ensure the project is responsive to the interests and needs of the City and the community and refine the plan’s goals and objectives.
• Community-based organization partners. Community-based organizations (CBOs) working in and serving the Richmond community partnered with the Richmond Green-Blue New Deal project by leveraging their existing networks in the Richmond community and facilitating outreach activities to collect input.
• Stakeholder workshops. Two workshops were facilitated to inform and engage Richmond businesses and industries and Contra Costa Building Trades unions to gather feedback, concerns, and priorities to inform the plan.
• Online and paper survey. A public survey was conducted to gather insights from the community about their vision and goals for the City and the plan. This survey was promoted by Community Champions, CBO partners, and the City of Richmond.

Major Themes and Feedback
Community Priorities
Across outreach activities, common themes and priorities emerged. Participants shared that the Green- Blue New Deal should:
• Benefit Richmond residents who need the most support including historically underserved and underinvested communities, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, the justice-involved community, and unhoused community.
• Ensure sustainable, long-term benefits for Richmond residents including health, employment, and housing stability benefits that have measurable outcomes and metrics to measure progress. • Leverage and rely on the local expertise of community leaders and organizations when moving projects forward.
• Include and clearly detail high-quality labor standards, equitable hiring policies, and hiring preferences for local Richmond residents and justice-involved candidates. • Carefully consider and monitor how sustainable improvements can have unintended consequences such as household expense increases for low-income households, producing unintended waste, and gentrification.
• Clearly outline plan implementation and evaluation logistics such as who will implement the plan, where funding for the plan could come from, who has decision-making power, how decisions will be data-driven and evidence-based, outcomes and metrics to measure impact on the environment, workers, and Richmond community members.

Although not reflected in the findings for individual outreach activities, during ongoing conversations the need for an environmental education curriculum or green-blue career readiness curriculum for young people was emphasized by stakeholders. This curriculum would ensure that Richmond’s diverse student population develops a broad-based understanding of the green-blue economy and is well-positioned to benefit from future green-blue career opportunities.

Support for Green-Blue Projects
Across community outreach activities, there was support for a variety of potential green-blue projects.

There is not a clear consensus on which specific projects should move forward but rather an emphasis 1245

that the projects that do move forward should directly benefit the Richmond community by ensuring sustainable, long-term community benefits, building wealth and providing family-sustaining wages for workers, and supporting small, locally-owned businesses.

Key Partners to Engage in Plan Development and Implementation The following stakeholders and organizations were engaged during the community outreach process and should continue to be involved as the plan is developed and implemented. • The Richmond community at large would like to be updated through City communications and updates relayed through Community Champions and CBO partners on the plan progress. It will be important to continue to engage the community and incorporate feedback to build trust and maintain transparency throughout this project.
• The Council of Business and Industry, specifically Executive Director Katrinka Ruk, would like to remain engaged and updated as the plan is developed and collaborate where appropriate during implementation.
o Sal Vaca is interested in remaining engaged to ensure the plan reflects equitable hiring policies and local hiring preferences for Richmond residents and justice-involved community members.
• The Contra Costa Building and Construction Trades Council members are very interested in partnering with the City on federal and state grant opportunities and advocacy opportunities related to green-blue projects. Unions that expressed the most interest in remaining engaged include:
o Anthony Viscuso, Heat & Frost Insulators, Local 16
o Dominic Lucero, Boilermakers 549
o EJ Cire, Sheet Metal Workers Local 104
o Felipe Hernandez Rios, UA LOCAL 355
o Jason Lindsey, Ironworkers Local 378
o Tim Frank, consultant with Contra Costa Building and Construction Trades Council • Specific Community Champions engaged at a deeper level and have indicated interest in staying involved in development and implementation of the plan:
o James McGarry, California Public Utilities Commission – energy and building electrification projects, policy projects
o Juliana Gonzalez, The Watershed Project – nature restoration and preservation projects, transportation projects, brownfields projects, training and workforce development projects
o Najari Smith and Jason Woody, Rich City Rides – transportation projects, policy projects, youth engagement
o Wesley Alexander, CoBiz – training and workforce development projects o Katrinka Ruk, Council of Business and Industry – policy projects, energy projects, nature restoration and preservation projects
o Dan Knapp and Mary Lou Deventer, Urban Ore – circular economy projects, training and workforce development projects
o Bethany Kaufman, Rebuilding Together East Bay Network – building and construction projects, training and workforce development projects
o Karen Collins, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano – food distribution projects 1246

o Arleide Santos, Urban Tilth – food projects, nature restoration and preservation projects, training and workforce development projects
o Marisol Cantu, Richmond Progressive Alliance/Safe Return Project – circular economy projects, policy projects, training and workforce development projects Project Logo
Survey respondents, Community Champions, and Safe Return Project workshop participants were asked to help select a logo for the Richmond Green Blue New Deal. Respondents indicated a preference for Option 2 (35%) and Option 4 (31%) below.

22%
35%13%
31%
Which logo do you like most to represent this project?
Select 1 choice.

Option 1 Option 2 Option 3 Option 4
Option 2:

Option 4:

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Community Champions
To help ensure the plan is responsive to the interests and needs of the City and to help guide and refine the plan’s goals and strategies, a Community Champions team was convened early in the community engagement process. Community Champions include representatives from community-based organizations, workforce development and job training agencies, small businesses, and relevant industry areas.

Role and Responsibilities
The Community Champions who were selected met the criteria outlined below. Community Champions received an email invitation to participate.
• Champions are connected to or represent a specific subset of the Richmond community through a community-based organization or key group (small business, advocacy group, etc.) • Champions have expertise in an area relevant to the types of projects that may result from the Green-Blue New Deal
• Champions are enthusiastic to collaborate on the Green-Blue New Deal • Champions have a demonstrated interest and commitment to inclusive and equitable outcomes for the Richmond community
Community Champions and their respective organizations are listed in the table below in alphabetical order of the organization:

Organization Name
1HundredYears Lejon Reese
CoBiz Richmond Wesley Alexander
Council of Business & Industry Katrinka Ruk
Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano Karen Collins
GoToWork Fitness Evan Francis
Marin Clean Energy (MCE) JB (Jayme) Ackemann, Tyla Brown Re-entry Success Tiffany Anaya
Rebuilding Together East Bay Network Bethany Kaufman
Renaissance Center Nicole Levine
Rich City Rides Najari Smith, Jason Woody
Richmond Community Foundation Jim Becker
Cooperation Richmond Princess Robinson, Briana Sidney
Richmond Main St Initiative Andrea Portillo-Knowles
Richmond Neighborhood Coordinating Council James McGarry Richmond Progressive Alliance/Safe Return Project Marisol Cantu RichmondWORKS Tamara Walker
Rising Sun Center for Opportunity Juanita Douglas
Sims Metal Jill Rodby
Urban Ore Inc Dan Knapp, Mary Lou Van Deventer
Urban Tilth Arleide Santos
Watershed Project Juliana Gonzalez, Anne Bremirez

Community Champions were asked to participate in the following ways:
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• Attend three (3) virtual meetings (2 hours in duration) with the Green-Blue New Deal (GBND) project team.
• Act in an advisory role to the GBND project team from October 2022 through June 2023. Help guide and refine the plan’s goals and strategies to ensure the plan is responsive to the interests and needs of the community.
• Support outreach efforts for engagement opportunities to ensure the GBND is reaching the right people and represents a range of voices from across the community.

Compensation
Community Champions’ time, expertise, and community involvement is incredibly valuable. To thank Champions for their time, they received a $100 stipend for each meeting attended.

Meeting Objectives
MIG facilitated three Community Champion meetings. The objectives for these meetings included:
• Meeting #1 (November 1, 2022): Facilitate introductions and relationship building for Community Champions and strategically map what expertise and connections Champions bring to the team. • Meeting #2 (January 11, 2023): Discuss possible projects to be implemented in Richmond based on Champions’ experiences, networks, and ongoing work within the community. Special presentation from Allison Moe with NREL on the Richmond Communities LEAP project. • Meeting #3 (April 13, 2023): Discuss high-level survey findings, a definition for green-blue jobs in Richmond, and staying involved as the project moves forward.

The project team recommends convening the Community Champions for an additional meeting in late summer or early fall 2023 to understand how the community findings are informing the RGBND Opportunities Report and Community Toolkit. Champions will be compensated for attending this fourth meeting.

Findings
In addition to facilitating CBO partnerships, promoting the community survey, and guiding the community outreach process, the Champions provided specific input in key discussions summarized below.

Strategic Mapping
Champions were asked to identify where their work aligns with elements of the Green-Blue New Deal so the project team could identify which Champions should be included in ongoing discussions and should be leveraged regarding specific projects. These elements included:
• Training and workforce development
• Demand for goods and services
• Policy
• Funding
• Energy
• Buildings
• Transportation
• Circular economy
• Food
• Nature
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• Brownfields
This strategic mapping exercise was documented using the notetaking tool Mural and is available in Appendix A.

Potential Green-Blue Projects
Champions were asked to brainstorm in teams one or two possible projects for the Green-Blue New Deal and discuss the alignment needed in the following areas for a project to successfully move forward:
• Stakeholders – Who are the key players in the community? • Policy – What additional ordinance or resolution is needed to implement this project? • Funding – What funding is needed to implement this project? What funding might be available? • Training – What types of green-blue jobs would be generated? What training would be needed? • Demand – Is there demand already for this product or service? • Community – What are the outcomes and benefits for the community? • Timeline – What could be the timeframe for implementation/to kickstart this project? Champions were provided the opportunity to select their break-out room and come to a consensus on what potential project they would like to discuss. The three potential projects selected are listed below and the activity discussion for each is documented in Appendix A. • Full electrification of blighted housing in Richmond
• Senate Bill 1383 surplus food donations
• Upcycling thrift store donations
These are not the only projects that the Champions expressed interest in discussing but are the projects that were collectively selected for this activity.

Defining Green-Blue Jobs in Richmond
Many definitions exist for green jobs but none are specific to the Richmond community’s vision and needs. The Champions reviewed the following definitions which were extracted from other sources:
• Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) – “Green jobs are either: (A) Jobs in businesses that produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources, or (B) Jobs in which workers’ duties involve making their establishment’s production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources.” (2010) • Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) – “Jobs are classified as green if at least 10% of tasks contribute to environmental objectives such as preserving the environment and reducing emissions.”
• ILO – “Decent jobs in any economic sector (e.g., agriculture, industry, services, administration) which contribute to preserving, restoring, and enhancing environmental quality.” • United Nations (UN) – “Jobs in sectors that contribute substantially to preserving or restoring environmental quality and minimize waste creation and pollution.” In reviewing these definitions, many Champions resonated most with the United Nations definition and provided additional feedback including:
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• Language should be clear and specific to Richmond’s environmental goals. These goals should be ambitious, innovative, and bold with a focus on “deep green.” • Words and phrases such as “substantially,” “decent jobs,” and “jobs in sectors” are too broad. • Definition should be inclusive of various sectors not just focus on business and industry production activities traditionally associated with green jobs. • The worker experience including pay and job satisfaction should be clearly articulated. • It should be emphasized that green jobs will restore economic opportunities in Richmond and will create pathways for training and advancement to provide more equitable outcomes for residents. • A multi-part definition could be considered to clearly define green-blue jobs and articulate what Richmond needs.

The original notes from this discussion were documented in the notetaking tool Mural and are included in Appendix A.

Project Logo
Champions were polled during Meeting #1 to indicate which project logo they felt best represented the Richmond Green-Blue New Deal. Fourteen (14) Champions voted in total and the most support was received for Option 2 (57%).

21%
57%
7%
14%
Which logo do you like most to represent this project?
Select 1 choice.

Option 1 Option 2 Option 3 Option 4
Option 1:

Option 2:

Option 3:

Option 4:

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Community-Based Organization Partners
Partnership Overview
Community-based organizations (CBOs) working in and serving the Richmond community were invited to partner with the Richmond Green-Blue New Deal project by facilitating outreach activities and events between January and mid-March 2023. This approach was used to leverage the existing networks and trusted relationships that CBOs have with the Richmond community, and to reach populations that have been historically excluded from decision-making processes, including community members who are low- income; Black Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC); or formerly incarcerated. Outreach activities included roadshow presentations, pop-up/tabling events, and social media/email communications to share more about the project, collect community input, and encourage participants to complete the community survey. To thank CBOs for their time and efforts, partners received a stipend of up to $1,000.

The project team compiled a list of CBOs to invite and asked the City of Richmond and Community Champions for additional recommendations. In late November and early December of 2022, CBOs were invited via email to participate in the partnership and were provided with a project description and partnership agreement. The partnership agreement detailed expectations, outreach activity options, and stipend amounts and is available in Appendix B. CBOs were provided the option to schedule an informational meeting with the project team to learn more about the project and help determine whether the partnership opportunity would be a good fit for the CBO. The project team hosted six (6) informational meetings throughout December 2022.

CBO partners were provided with all outreach materials including a roadshow PowerPoint presentation, a project fact sheet, survey social media flyer, editable event flyer, and paper survey in a live folder accessible with a link and password. These materials were also provided in Spanish. An outreach and materials guide was developed to provide partners with guidelines and recommendations for how to use the materials and tips for facilitating outreach activities. Partners were invited to attend an optional CBO Partner Orientation where the project team shared an overview of the project and provided a walkthrough of the outreach materials. Ample time was provided for Q&A and a recording of the orientation was uploaded to the live folder for partners to access later as needed.

Once CBO partners provided their organization’s signed W-9 and a signed partnership agreement indicating what outreach activities they planned to facilitate, a check for 50% of the stipend was processed. A second check for 50% of the remaining stipend was processed following completion of all outreach activities and after the CBO submitted a completed Reporting Guide available in Appendix B.

Partners
Seven (7) community-based organizations participated as CBO partners:
• YES Nature to Neighborhoods
• Collaborising
• The Watershed Project
• Rubicon Programs
• Rich City Rides
• Richmond Community Foundation
• CoBiz Richmond
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Additionally, the Trust for Public Land and Diana Wear with the Richmond Economic Development Commission facilitated outreach but did not enter into a formal agreement to receive a stipend and therefore did not complete a reporting guide.

Reporting guides were received from six (6) CBO partners.

Findings
CBO partners shared that community members requested updates about the project and wanted to know when they can expect to be engaged again. Community members would also like to see the survey results and findings when they are available.

As captured in the reports received, CBO partners engaged an estimated 2,500 community members through outreach activities and online communications. Community members were engaged in English and Spanish. These outreach activities and online communications include:
• 1 roadshow presentation
• 5 pop-up/tabling events
• 1,143 email opens
• 1,141 social media post views, likes, comments, and reshares CBO partners engaged other organizations, online communities, and contacts through online communications including Faith in Action East Bay, Black Village Network, Richmond LAND, Councilmember Melvin Willis, SOS Richmond, This is Richmond, Everybody’s Richmond, and NextDoor.

Those who participated in the roadshow presentation were asked which green-blue job definitions resonated with them most. These definitions included:

1. Jobs that preserve and enhance the environment for the benefit of current and future generations

2. Jobs that provide meaningful work decarbonizing, retrofitting, upcycling and restoring healthy systems

3. Jobs that center workers and transform the economy from extractive to regenerative systems

4. Jobs centering workers and transforming the economy from extractive to healthy regenerative systems that build a just, equitable, resilient and sustainable future Definition 4 of green-blue jobs resonated with most participants with the request that “extractive” be clearly defined or conveyed in more simple language.

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Participants were also asked which green-blue case studies stood out to them as good opportunities for Richmond. The following case studies received the most votes and are combined with votes from the workshops Safe Return Project hosted:

Projects Votes
Green accessory dwelling units/additions 17
All electric building retrofits 16
Solar manufacturing 13
Delivering surplus prepared food 13
Battery manufacturing 11
Upcycling thrift store donations 8
Vertical farming 4
Endangered species restoration 4
Redesigned public spaces 3
Upcycling dead or dying trees 3
Building deconstruction 3
Protected bike lanes 1
Wildlife rehabilitation 1
Refillable bottles 1
Restoring shoreline 1
Wind turbine manufacturing 1

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Stakeholder Workshops
Purpose
Two stakeholder workshops were facilitated to engage with specific stakeholders whose input is vital in shaping the Green-Blue New Deal plan and who will be important partners in implementing the plan.

Business and Industry Stakeholders
The Council of Business & Industries and the Richmond Chamber of Commerce were engaged to facilitate a workshop for their members. The workshop included an overview of the project with Q&A and a facilitated activity regarding the elements of offshore wind.

Participants included:
• Katrinka Ruk, Council of Business & Industry
• Ryan Lau, AC Transit
• Scott Buckley, Ghirardelli Associates
• Wesley Alexander, CoBiz
• James Lee, Richmond Chamber of Commerce
• Sal Vaca, Friends of the Port
• Cordell Hindler, Park Plaza Neighborhood Council
• Hakim Johnson, Chevron Richmond Refinery
Participants shared priorities and considerations for the plan including:
• Trades training programs should be made available in high schools and community colleges to introduce students to high-road jobs such as automotive work for fuel cell vehicles. • Training focused on project proposal and bidding is needed for local and disadvantaged contractors to help them be more competitive.
• The plan should include equitable hiring policies and indicate hiring preferences for local Richmond residents and justice-involved candidates.
• Youth perspectives should be highlighted in this plan and in workforce development planning in Richmond. Youth are the future of the workforce.

Union and Trades Stakeholders
The Contra Costa Building & Construction Trades Council was engaged to facilitate a workshop for their members. The workshop included an overview of the project with Q&A, a presentation from Allison Moe with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) regarding the Communities LEAP Project, and a discussion about union priorities and concerns.

Participants included:
• EJ Cire, Sheet Metal Workers' Local 104
• Anthony Viscuso, Heat & Frost Insulators Local 16
• Dominic Lucero, Boilermakers Local 549
• Jason Lindsey, Ironworkers Local 378
• Rachel Shoemake, IBEW LU 302
• Felipe Hernandez Rios, UA Local 355
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• Rik Drury, Sprinklerfitters Local 483
• Chuck Leonard, Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 342
• Tim Frank, consultant with Contra Costa Building Trades Participants shared priorities and considerations for the plan including:
• There should be coordination and partnership between the City and unions to ensure Richmond is applying for available grant funding and submitting competitive applications. Participants expressed enthusiasm for supporting efforts to obtain grant funding. • Training is key to ensuring cost savings and that green improvements are installed and commissioned properly. Union apprenticeship and training programs are the most comprehensive and up-to-date on technological advancements. It is important that these training opportunities are promoted to residents and workers and encouraged as career opportunities to students. • Labor standards should be attached to funding, for example, regarding the Inflation Reduction Act which rewards contractors with tax credits for meeting labor standards. This helps ensure that regardless of whether the contractor works with unions, local hire and labor standards are being met and workers have received high-quality training.
• Training programs should engage and be inclusive of workers with diverse backgrounds including women, people of color, and formerly incarcerated residents. Participants emphasized that unions are well-positioned to support equity goals in the plan because unions provide training and high- road jobs to people from all walks of life, including people of color, people who are low-income, and people who were formerly incarcerated.
• It is important to consider how sustainable improvements such as electrification can have unintended cost consequences for low-income households. Rebates, tax incentives, and subsidies should be leveraged so a low-income household receiving electrification upgrades does not end up with a higher energy bill.

Participants were asked to complete an exit survey following the workshop. Participants indicated they are most interested in pursuing the following green-blue projects:
• Electrification/decarbonization
o New and existing construction
o Transportation
• Alternative energy technologies
o Offshore wind
o Solar
o Hydrogen
o Carbon capture
o Geothermal

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Survey
Overview
A public survey was developed to gather insights from the community about their vision and goals for the City of Richmond and the Green-Blue New Deal plan. The survey served as an educational tool and collected data from residents and community members to inform key recommendations in the plan and next outreach steps. The survey was not designed or conducted to yield statistically valid results.

Design
The survey included eight (8) questions related to the Green-Blue New Deal plan, 10 demographic questions, six (6) contact information questions for receiving more information, and one (1) question about the Green-Blue New Deal logo. All questions in the survey were optional. The eight (8) questions related to the plan included checkbox questions with a limit of how many options respondents could select and open-ended written response questions. The results for checkbox questions may exceed 100% because respondents were allowed to choose multiple options. The six (6) contact information questions will be submitted to Appraccel and the City of Richmond separately so these community members can stay engaged as development and implementation of the plan moves forward.

The survey was available in English and Spanish. A full version of the survey was available online using the survey platform Alchemer and a condensed version of the survey was available as a double-sided one- page paper survey. Both survey versions are available in Appendix C. Paper surveys helped ensure that community members who may not be connected to the City virtually were still provided with the opportunity to share their input. Paper surveys were also used by partners to survey community members during outreach activities including workshops and tabling events.

During survey question development, the survey underwent review and edits by City staff. In this process, the focus of some survey questions expanded beyond the scope of the Green Blue New Deal project. For this community findings report, we focus on the survey questions and responses that are directly relevant to the GBND. The responses to questions that were expanded emphasize respondents’ concerns regarding meeting immediate basic needs such as food, housing, health care and mental health and a desire to expand the community safety net.

The survey was drafted to use plain language. During revisions, some language was changed to more closely align with wording in the City Resolution and Climate Action Plan. Some stakeholders provided feedback that the survey language was not accessible to all community members and recommended that it be written at or below an 8th grade reading level.

Promotion
The survey was promoted by several supporters of the plan, including Community Champions, CBO partners, and Groundwork Richmond, a local CBO and sub-consultant on the project. Groundwork Richmond committed to collecting 100 surveys at their events during the community outreach period. A link to the survey was also promoted in the City Manager’s Weekly Report a few times.

Response Statistics
The survey was open from January 10, 2023 through March 20, 2023. Community Champions were invited to complete the survey and share their feedback on the user experience during December 2022, before the survey formally opened in January 2023. The goal stated in the Engagement Plan was to collect 1257

at least 100 survey responses. In total, 431 responses were received to the survey. These responses can further be broken down into:
• Response Type
o Complete: 405 (94%)
o Partial: 26 (6%)
• Response Form
o Online: 320 (74%)
o Paper: 111 (26%)
• Response Language
o English: 387 (89.8%)
o Spanish: 44 (10.2%)
It is important to note that most Spanish surveys were received in paper form as they were gathered during outreach efforts along Richmond’s 23rd Street commercial district.

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Findings
This section includes high-level findings from each survey question. The raw survey data is available in Appendix D. These findings reflect the perspectives, priorities, and concerns of those who completed the survey and should be considered as community insights rather than representative of all Richmond residents. As noted in the report, several questions were expanded beyond the focus of the Green-Blue New Deal and provide insight into the broader interests and concerns of Richmond residents.

1. What environmental or health concerns do you have living or working in Richmond? Select your top 3 choices.

Respondents identified air quality (69%) as their top environmental and health concern living and working in Richmond. This concern was followed by blight and deterioration (46%), insufficient access to healthy food options (37%), and need for more trees (31%).

A disaggregated analysis of responses by race shows broad overlap in responses. Respondents were grouped into two groups: 1) white alone, and 2) races other than white or multi-racial. Further disaggregation was not possible due to the small sample size. Both groups identified air quality as a top concern, with more than 60% of respondents in both groups selecting this option. Respondents who identified as white alone were more likely to identify blight and deterioration as a problem (53%) than were respondents of other races or who were multiracial (39%).

Total Responses: 415/431

11%
13%
15%
20%
20%
23%
31%
37%
46%
69%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Other - Write In (Required)
Need for more local agriculture
Energy inefficient buildings and facilities
Insufficient infrastructure connectivity
Soil contamination
Water quality
Need for more trees
Insufficient access to healthy food options
Blight and deterioration
Air quality

1. What environmental or health concerns do you have living or working in Richmond? Select your top 3 choices.
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2. Which of the following environmental projects are most important for you? Select your top 3 choices.

Respondents indicated that projects that improve access to healthy food options (48%), projects that restore the natural environment (47%), and projects that support small, locally owned businesses (44%) are the types of environmental projects which are most important to them.

A disaggregated analysis of responses by race shows broad overlap in responses. Respondents were placed into two groups: 1) white alone, and 2) races other than white or multi-racial. Further disaggregation was not possible due to the small samle size. Responses reflected similar choices in both the white alone group and the races other than white and multiracial group (less than a 10% difference). The two responses with greater than a 10% difference were improving access to healthy food choices (37% white alone, 51% races other than white and multi-racial), and increasing access to and use of renewable energy (35% and 23% respectively).

In the survey, examples were included in parentheses with each of these statements to provide more context but have been removed for ease of depicting the data in the chart below.

Total Responses: 409/431

8%
21%
25%
25%
28%
36%
44%
47%
48%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Other (Write-in response)
Projects that provide energy efficient buildings and facilities Projects that increase water conservation
Projects that build a zero waste and circular economy
Projects that increase generation and use of renewable energy Projects that improve sustainable transportation and land use Projects that support small, locally owned businesses
Projects that restore the natural environment
Projects that improve access to healthy food options

2. Which of the following environmental projects are most important for you? Select your top 3 choices. Examples are included in parentheses. 1260

3. Which of the following implementation objectives should this effort prioritize? Select your top 3 choices.

Respondents indicated that this effort should prioritize access to health care and mental health services (47%), local job opportunities that build wealth and provide family-sustaining wages for workers (42%), and improve the affordability of housing and reduce operating expenses (39%).

Access to health care and mental health services is an important area of concern for respondents, which, while not an area directly targeted by the Green-Blue New Deal, provides insight for local policy makers on constituents’ needs.

Total Responses: 404/431

6%
13%
15%
30%
31%
33%
34%
39%
42%
47%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Other (Write-in response)
Supporting justice-involved residents with job opportunities and training Reliable and affordable transportation options
Job training for underemployed and unemployed community members Public safety including addressing criminal activity and blight Food security and access to healthy food options
Improving air and water quality
Improving affordability of housing and reducing operating expenses Local job opportunities that build wealth and provide family-sustaining wages… Access to health care and mental health services

3. Which of the following implementation objectives should this effort prioritize? Select your top 3 choices.
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4. What types of job opportunities are most needed in Richmond? Select all that apply.

Respondents indicated that education and higher education job opportunities (64%) are most needed in Richmond. This was followed by job opportunities in entrepreneurship (47%), engineering/tech (40%), doctors/dentists/nurses (40%), and training (37%).

For respondents who included “Other” as a response, several indicated that trades and union jobs with paid training and apprenticeship are most needed in Richmond.

Total Responses: 397/431

12%
17%
27%
28%
29%
37%
40%
40%
47%
64%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Other - Write In (Required)
Hospitality
Manufacturing/Industrial
Finance/Investment
Food services
Training
Doctors/Dentists/Nurses
Engineering/Tech
Entrepreneurship
Education/Higher Education

4. What types of job opportunities are most needed in Richmond? Select all that apply.
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5. Are there any particular green jobs topics or projects you would like to learn more about? Participants were most interested in learning more about:
• Renewable energy sources including solar energy and wind energy • Restoring the natural environment and cleaning up contaminated land • Training opportunities for youth, students, and those with less work experience Total Responses: 86/431
*Question 5 was not included in the paper survey.

6. What types of talents and skills do you have for which you would like new job opportunities? Select your top 3 choices.

Respondents indicated that they are most interested in new job opportunities that require communication skills (47%). This was followed by problem-solving skills (38%), leadership/management skills (37%), creative/artistic skills (30%), and relationship building skills (28%). The top talents and skills indicate there is a strong interest in job opportunities requiring soft skills.

Total Responses: 339/431

11%
15%
16%
17%
19%
28%
30%
37%
38%
47%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
Other (Write-in response)
Quantitative skills (finances, accounting, engineering) Technical skills (coding, technology)
Focused, detail-oriented (logistics)
Construction and repair skills
Relationship building skills
Creative skills (artistic)
Leadership skills (management)
Problem-solving skills
Communication skills (writing, speaking)

6. What types of talents and skills do you have for which you would like new job opportunities? Select your top 3 choices.
1263

7. What does a Green-Blue Richmond in 2030 look like to you? How do you envision a Green-Blue Richmond in 2030?
Participants’ visions for a Green-Blue Richmond in 2030 included:
• A healthy and clean community where residents feel safe and take pride in Richmond • A local economy that has transitioned to environmentally sustainable industries and jobs • More local jobs with higher wages for Richmond residents that have accessible training opportunities
• Support for existing and new small businesses and entrepreneurs • More affordable housing and housing solutions for all, including unhoused residents • Thoughtfully planned, reliable, and accessible public transportation • Nature restoration and more green space and parks for community to gather • Access to healthy, fresh food options and elimination of food deserts Total Responses: 160/431
*Question 7 was not included in the paper survey.

8. What questions or concerns should be considered 1) during the development of the Plan and 2) during the implementation of the Richmond Green-Blue New Deal Workforce Development Plan? Participant questions and concerns about the Green-Blue New Deal development and implementation of the plan included:
• How will the Green-Blue New Deal benefit Richmond residents that need the most support? These communities include historically underserved and underinvested communities, BIPOC communities, formerly incarcerated community, and unhoused community. • Ensuring sustainable, long-term benefits for Richmond residents including health, employment, and housing stability.
• Implementation logistics
o Who will implement the workforce development plan and what are their qualifications? o Where is funding for the plan coming from?
o Who will make funding decisions related to the plan?
o Are decisions data-driven and evidence-based?
o How will updates and progress be communicated to the community? o What outcomes and metrics are being used to measure impact? o How do these outcomes and metrics prioritize the environment and local workers? • The community would like to continue to be updated on progress during implementation and be able to provide input that will be incorporated on an ongoing basis. It is important to engage with community members through strategies and networks beyond standard City communications that allow for robust discussion and engagement.
• The plan should be inclusive of all Richmond residents and ensure all voices are heard. • Understanding and acting to mitigate the potential for gentrification and displacement resulting from green-blue economic development.

Total Responses: 187/431
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9. Which of the following best describes you? Select all that apply.

Most respondents live in Richmond (75%) and nearly a third work in Richmond (28%).

Total Responses: 409/431

10. How long have you lived or worked in Richmond?
Most respondents have lived or worked in Richmond for 11 years or more (61%) trailed by 6-10 years (18%) and 1-5 years (16%), indicating that most respondents reached are long-term Richmond residents.

Total Responses: 281/431
*Question 10 was not included in the paper survey.

2%
12%
19%
28%
75%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
None of the above
I own a business or property in the City of Richmond
I live in a neighboring city or community
I work in the City of Richmond
I live in the City of Richmond

9. Which of the following best describes you? Select all that apply. 2%
4%
16%
18%
61%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Less than 1 year
I do not live or work in Richmond
1-5 years
6-10 years
11+ years

10. How long have you lived or worked in Richmond?
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11. What neighborhood do you live in? What are the landmarks or streets that define your neighborhood? The most common neighborhoods respondents live in included:
• North and East (22)
• East Richmond (19)
• Marina Bay (13)
• Hilltop (10)
• Point Richmond (10)
• Panhandle Annex (10)
• Richmond Annex (9)
• Brickyard Cove/Landing (8)
• Iron Triangle (8)
• El Sobrante (7)
• May Valley (6)
The other responses included specific landmarks or cross streets.

Total Responses: 230/431
*Question 11 was not included in the paper survey.

12. What is your work or employment status? Check all that apply.

Respondents who selected “Other” indicated they were employed part-time or self-employed.

Total Responses: 278/431
*Question 12 was not included in the paper survey.

0%
1%
2%
4%
5%
5%
7%
29%
63%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Not able to work
Unemployed - Not looking for work
Unemployed - Looking for work
Homemaker
Student
Other (Write-in response)
Parent or caregiver
Retired
Employed

12. What is your work or employment status?
Check all that apply.
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13. What is your household’s annual income?
Respondents reported a variety of income levels with the top responses being $100,000-$149,000 (22%).

A significant number of respondents preferred not to answer (19%).

Total Responses: 274/431
*Question 13 was not included in the paper survey.

14. My age is:

Respondents reported a variety of ages with a nearly even response rate between 25-34 (16%), 35-44 (18%), 45-54 (18%), and 65-74 (17%).

Total Responses: 403/431

1% 4%
10%
14%
14%
22%
16%
19%

13. What is your household’s annual income?
Under $9,999
$10,000-$24,999
$25,000-$49,999
$50,000-$74,999
$75,000-$99,999
$100,000-$149,999
Over $150,000
I prefer not to answer
3%
7%
16%
18%
18%
11%
17%
7% 5%

14. My age is:
17 and under 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 Over 75 I prefer not to answer 1267

15. Which of the following most accurately describes your race and ethnic identities? Check all that apply.

Respondents reported a variety of race and ethnic identities. White and European respondents (41%) followed by Hispanic or Latino/x respondents (29%), and Black or African American respondents (18%).

With the exception of the Hispanic or Latino/x respondents, respondent race and ethnic identities are within 10% of the racial demographics reported by the U.S. Census Bureau.2 The “I self-identify as” option was a written response option for respondents interested in identifying their race or ethnicity.

Total Responses: 399/431

16. What gender do you identify as? Check all that apply.

Most respondents identified as women (64%).

Total Responses: 401/431

2 www.census.gov/quickfacts/richmondcitycalifornia
0%
2%
3%
3%
4%
5%
8%
18%
29%
41%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
Alaskan Native
Middle Eastern/North African
Pacific Islander
I self-identify as:

First Nation/American Indian/Indigenous
Asian/South Asian or Asian American
I prefer not to answer
Black or African American
Hispanic or Latino/x
White/European American

15. Which of the following most accurately describes your race and ethnic identities? Check all that apply.
0%
0%
2%
5%
30%
64%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Transgender
I self-identify as:

Non-binary
I prefer not to answer
Man
Woman

16. What gender do you identify as? Check all that apply. 1268

17. Which of the following describes you? Check all that apply.

Six percent of respondents indicated they were formerly incarcerated with 4% serving time in jail and 2% serving time in prison. Respondents who selected “Other” indicated they had family members (parents or children) who have been systems impacted or they had been arrested with charges dropped.

Total Responses: 345/431

18. If you have a conviction history, has it prevented you from accessing a livable wage job? Thirteen percent of respondents indicated that this question applied to them and of that percentage 12% (29 respondents) indicated their conviction history has not prevented them from accessing a livable wage job and 1% (3 respondents) indicated it has prevented them from accessing a livable wage job.

Total Responses: 244/431

4%
2%
1%
2%
93%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Formerly incarcerated – served time in jail
Formerly incarcerated – served time in prison
Currently on any post-incarceration supervision (parole, probation, federal probation, or other)
Other (Write-in response)
None of the above

17. Which of the following describes you? Check all that apply. 1%
12%
87%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Yes
No
Does not apply

18. If you have a conviction history, has it prevented you from accessing a livable wage job?
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25. All aspects of the Richmond Green-Blue New Deal will represent the vision of the community. Which logo do you like most to represent this project? Select 1 choice.

The majority of respondents indicated support for logo option 2 (31%) and logo option 4 (32%). Together, option 2 and option 4 garnered 63% of votes.

Total Responses: 227/431
*Question 25 was not included in the paper survey.

23%
31%14%
32%
Which logo do you like most to represent this project?
Select 1 choice.

Option 1 Option 2 Option 3 Option 4
Option 1:

Option 2:

Option 3:

Option 4:

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Appendix
• Appendix A - Community Champions Meeting Activities
• Appendix B - CBO Partner Materials and Documents
• Appendix C - Online and Paper Surveys
• Appendix D - Survey response data (Excel sheet)
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Insights About the Future Green-Blue Economy
from Justice-Involved Richmond Residents

Submitted to the City of Richmond City Manager’s Office May 18, 2023

Prepared by:

Richmond Green-Blue New Deal Workforce Development Plan https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/4138/Green-Blue-New-Deal-and-Just-Transition

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 1 Introduction ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............ 1 What is Safe Return? ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................... 2 Workshop Goal................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........ 3 Methodology ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........... 3 Findings ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................... 3 Recommendations ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 7 Conclusion ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............... 8

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Insights About the Future Green-Blue Economy
from Justice-Involved Richmond Residents

Executive Summary
In a competitive labor market, we cannot afford to exclude people who are willing and able to work.

Many formerly incarcerated individuals who have served their debt to society would like to work to support themselves and their families. Local non-profits like Safe Return Project understand the challenges they face as they seek to secure employment.

At the same time, the work of designing and building a just, equitable, resilient, and sustainable future needs people. Transforming our energy systems, buildings, transportation systems, materials economy, and food system as well as restoring nature and redeveloping brownfields will require a variety of skills and talents.

Anticipating these current and upcoming projects, Safe Return Project led three workshops with thirty (30) justice-involved individuals in fall 2022 to understand the skills they offer, their interests, the challenges they face, and gather their insights about the future green-blue economy. Facilitators heard about participants’ skills in management, entrepreneurship, administration, communications, construction, and the arts. Attendees shared information about their interests in projects such as all- electric building retrofits, rescuing surplus prepared food, solar panel manufacturing, battery manufacturing, and upcycling thrift store donations. The findings in this report shine a spotlight on the resources needed to help justice-involved individuals reintegrate into the economy and reduce the number of people caught in the cycle of recidivism and reincarceration.

Introduction
Building the green-blue economy of the future will require battalions of new workers. With California’s low unemployment rate, 4.4% in March 2023, we cannot afford to pass over anyone who is ready and willing to work.

Annually, about 35,000 people are released from the state’s prisons and of the 350,000 people booked into jails each year, most are released within a few months.1 They face numerous barriers to reintegrate into society and the work world: fulfilling court obligations; satisfying probation/parole officer meetings; opening a bank account; applying for social services; securing housing; finding transportation; obtaining a driver’s license with the Department of Motor Vehicles; passing a General Educational Development (GED) test; obtaining services for physical and mental health; and finding and keeping employment.

Even obtaining Social Security cards, birth certificates, and training and education certifications—all of which are vital building blocks to stabilization— often prove difficult. Fortunately, there are non-profit organizations working on their behalf.

1 California Health Care Foundation. “From Corrections to Community: Reentry Health Care.” July 1, 2022, https://www.chcf.org/project/corrections-community-reentry-health-care, Date of Access May 18, 2023. 1274

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What is Safe Return?
Safe Return Project lifts up those who have been negatively impacted by criminalization and inequity.

With the goal of developing the capacity for the formerly incarcerated to take the lead on issues that impact them, Safe Return instills a sense of agency. Since its inception, Safe Return has focused on hiring formerly incarcerated people to engage in participatory action research, community organizing, and policy advocacy on issues impacting individuals returning from jail and prison.

People with past convictions who have served their sentences face 4,800 restrictions on participating fully in society.2 These collateral consequences are imposed long after completion of a sentence, reinforcing the idea that individuals with past convictions have forfeited their rights to equity, equal opportunity, and full citizenship.

Safe Return Project plays a key role in the community by advocating for policy changes that will ensure that people who have been criminalized do not face roadblocks to employment and success.

Some of the barriers and challenges the
justice-involved community faces are
internal. Safe Return Project’s peer support
environment holds space for people
processing the aftermath of incarceration
and helps navigate shared challenges. The
non-profit understands how to hold this
community with compassion and care in a
culturally competent way that helps them
move forward.

Since Safe Return Project prioritizes the
internal hiring of formerly incarcerated and
systems-impacted individuals, the non-
profit serves as a model for employment.

When staff hear of vacancies outside of the
organization, they reach into their network
of partners to find qualified candidates. This is how Safe Return Project has become a pipeline of talent and grown the number of formerly incarcerated workers with strong skill sets in supervisory roles, office management, communications, organizational development and more.

Looking externally, Safe Return Project also provides consulting services to employers who see the value of second chance hiring. The set of challenges facing justice-involved individuals can be great but the rewards to employers more than make up for the challenges. Safe Return Project serves as a partner and consultant to help second chance employers support the success of their employees in the workplace.

2 Californians for Safety and Justice. “Repairing the Road to Redemption in California.” September 2018, https://safeandjust.org/interactivereport/repairing-the-road-to-redemption-in-california, accessed May 12, 2023.

Workshop #1 – Sept. 26, 2022
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Workshop Goal
The goal of Safe Return Project’s portion of the Richmond Green-Blue New Deal project was to conduct workshops with a network of formerly incarcerated and convicted individuals and their families to better understand the community’s potential interest in green-blue jobs, their skill sets, and resources needed. Information gathered will guide the development of the three main reports for the Richmond Green-Blue New Deal: the Green-Blue New Deal Opportunities Report, Implementation Plan, and the Community Toolkit.

Methodology
To encourage participation in one of the three workshops, in fall 2022, Safe Return Project staff spent eight weeks conducting outreach within their network of formerly incarcerated and convicted individuals and their families. The project goal of engaging with and learning from 30 attendees was fulfilled:
● 11 attendees at workshop #1 on Sept. 26, 2022
● 13 attendees at workshop #2 on Oct. 3, 2022
● 6 attendees at workshop #3 on Oct. 10, 2022
These 2½ hour workshops introduced the federal Green New Deal, shared several case studies, polled the level of interest in 15 green-blue job projects, and led a discussion about economic opportunities, upward mobility, skills, needs, and challenges.

Evaluations were completed after each
workshop by soliciting feedback on content and
desired engagement in the project moving
forward. Each of the 30 attendees received a
$50 gift card for their time.

Findings
Participants generously shared their stories and
insights. Besides learning about attendees’ skill
sets and green-blue job preferences, workshop
facilitators also heard about what participants
consider a “good job” and a “living wage,” and
the support they need to reintegrate into the
working world.

Skills
When asked about their skill sets, the top 10 skills or trades participants identified over the course of the three workshops included:

1. Management

2. Entrepreneurial

3. Electrical

4. Carpentry

Workshop #2 – Oct. 3, 2022
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5. Painting

6. Hospitality

7. Research

8. Customer service

9. Artistic

10. Healing
All 10 of these skills or trades would be useful in some capacity for the green-blue projects that were described in the workshop. The more detailed list of skills or trades attendees identified included:

1. Driving

2. Teaching/educating

3. Marketing

4. Entrepreneurial

5. Healing

6. Cooking /cooking instructor

7. Cosmetology

8. Patience

9. Facility maintenance

10. Electrical

11. Carpentry

12. Creation of beauty products

13. Health worker

14. Mental health services

15. Yoga, Zumba, body work
instructor

16. Communications

17. Active listening

18. Fast learner

19. Home improvement

20. Caregiving

21. Networking

22. Horticulture

23. Problem solving

24. Motivational speaking

25. Mentoring

26. Gardening

27. Critical thinking skills

28. Community advocacy

29. Community engagement

30. Jewelry making

31. Writing and editing

32. Fundraising

33. Accounting

34. Hospitality

35. E-commerce

36. Crafting

Workshop #3 – Oct. 10, 2022
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37. Fitness and nutrition

38. Organizing

39. Conservation

40. Frontline work

41. Coordination

42. Motivation

43. Leadership

44. Self-discipline

45. Research

46. Empathy

47. Creative thinking

48. Managing people

This wide variety of skills and trades could be applied to future work building a just, equitable, resilient, and sustainable future.

Preferred Green-Blue Projects
To understand which green-blue jobs projects participants were most interested in, workshop facilitators presented an overview of the following 15 projects.

1. Battery manufacturing

2. Solar panel manufacturing

3. Wind turbine manufacturing

4. All-electric building retrofits

5. Green accessory dwelling units construction

6. Building deconstruction

7. Redesigning public spaces

8. Protected bike lanes

9. Upcycling dead and diseased trees

10. Upcycling thrift store donations

11. Refillable bottles

12. Vertical farming

13. Rescuing surplus prepared food

14. Shoreline restoration

15. Wildlife restoration

Participants were asked to vote for their top three areas of interest. The following five projects received 10 or more votes.
• All-electric building retrofits (21)
• Rescuing surplus prepared food (19)
• Solar panel manufacturing (13)
• Battery manufacturing (10)
• Upcycling thrift store donations (10)
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When asked what skills employers were looking for in the current job market, participants highlighted:
• Construction
• Administration
• Hospitality
Participants shared the qualities they believe employers are looking for: reliability, honesty, sociability, and professional people with good attitudes toward training. While most workshop attendees were curious about which green-blue employers were hiring, a few members of each group expressed their entrepreneurial spirit and professed to wanting to start their own business.

Defining a good job and a living wage
When asked to describe a “good job,” participants stated that good jobs shouldn’t be stressful, should provide a living wage, come with benefits like retirement and quality healthcare, and offer opportunities for advancement. Across all three workshops, participants expressed that they felt good jobs should be available in the communities where they live.

These workshops helped us learn what the term “living wage” meant to participants and how earning a living wage would affect them. A living wage means “being able to pay bills and have something leftover.” This would allow them “to live their lives the way they want instead of paycheck-to- paycheck.”
Participants felt that a living wage meant making enough to cover their current costs of living. Earning more would afford them financial security to stop worrying about getting old; reduce stress about bills; care for their families; and give back to their communities.

One person specifically stated that they thought a living wage would be greater than $25/hour. The general sentiment was that securing employment with a living wage post-incarceration clearly would be life changing but that they face many barriers before they can secure stable employment.

Reintegration challenges
During the workshops, several different challenges to reintegration were identified including housing, transportation, conviction history, lack of resources, and family reunification. Specifically, participants could be facing challenges such as:
• court obligations,
• probation/parole officer meetings,
• securing a driver’s license
• opening a bank account,
• applying for social services,
• housing/landlords,
• securing reliable transportation,
• completing a GED,
• securing documentation needed to apply for a job,
• identifying services for physical and mental health, and 1279

7 | P a g e

• finding and keeping employment.

Support to navigate these obstacles would help justice-involved individuals succeed.

Employer concerns about hiring justice-involved individuals Workshop attendees shared that in addition to the challenges listed above, they also face employers’ opinions and fears. These often-unspoken concerns can block individuals from joining the workforce, regardless of their qualifications. Furthermore, insurance liabilities and background checks can exclude individuals from jobs that match their skills and experience.

In light of these factors, workshop facilitators asked participants why they think employers are afraid to hire them and what they can do to de-stigmatize employers’ minds. Participants believe that employers are misinformed and base many of their decisions on stereotypes that paint formerly convicted individuals as dangerous, untrustworthy, a threat to society, and not worth the risk.

Despite these challenges, participants felt that they could change minds and practices by:
● showcasing their skills and positive attributes,
● showing hiring managers studies and data explaining justice-involved individuals are more of a perceived liability than an actual risk,
● educating them on the excessive economic impacts of having a conviction, and ● eliminating background checks for most professions.

Support requested
During each of the workshops, participants identified the types of support that would help them prepare to enter the job market, ranging from opportunities to further their education, more skilled labor training in schools, jails, and prisons, as well as access to technology, reliable transportation, and soft skill development.

When asked what kind of assistance was needed for participants to overcome these challenges, 16 sources of support were identified. Participants stated that job training, pre- and post-release job placement programs, policies that reduce barriers to housing and jobs, trauma-informed services, and community support would be helpful.

Recommendations
As a result of information collected at the Safe Return Project workshops, organizers offer a set of recommendations for integrating justice-involved people into the green-blue economy. To support justice-involved individuals, the following would be valuable:
● Job training - pre-release
● Paid job training – post-release
● Work readiness support
● Trauma-informed services
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● Creation of job centers
● Post-incarceration job placement assistance
● Employment education fairs
● Green-blue jobs notification system
● Re-entry retention services
For aspiring entrepreneurs:
● Cohorts of entrepreneurs to support each other while
developing business plans, identifying funding, and
working on other aspects of launching a business
For employers:
• Training that guides recruitment and screening
conversations with formerly incarcerated individuals
who have hard and soft skills that match employers’
hiring needs. (See the Fair Chance Corporate Cohort
case study in the sidebar.)
For government:
• Create a Fair Chance Advisory Committee
Evaluation comments
At the end of each workshop, attendees filled out an
evaluation form. A sample of the overwhelmingly positive comments received include:
• “Overall, it was very informative and provided a lot of info that will be positive for the future.” • “I’m an introvert. These ladies made it easy to speak out and engage. Thank you.” • “Finally found an organization that cares about the community I want to be a part of.” • “Very informative, super kind and know their topics.” • “Hearing how important a Green New Deal is and the numerous types of jobs available.” • “Amazing, inspiring, exciting conversation.”
• “Everything was presented clearly.”
• “I felt a really good vibe. I didn’t feel shy.”
Conclusion
To reduce the number of people stuck in the cycle of recidivism and reincarceration, jobs are the offramp from the justice system. Given the workshop participants’ interest in the Green New Deal, green-blue jobs could provide them with not just a way to support themselves but also work that is meaningful to them.

Thirty workshop participants shared information about their skill and talents, preferences, the barriers they face, and the resources they need to reintegrate into society. The green-blue projects that Fair Chance Corporate Cohort
Training
Jobs for the Future hosts the Fair
Chance Corporate Cohort which was
designed for Human Resource and
Operations professionals within
companies looking to build inclusive,
competitive, and thriving
workplaces. The cohort model
guides a small group of companies
through a several week training and
coaching process that prepares
participants to actively embrace and
adopt a Fair Chance Employment
program. Participants learn how to
assess their company’s current state
of employment practices, debunk
common myths about fair chance
employment and create a
customized implementation plan for
their companies.

The group gathers virtually to
participate in lessons with experts in
employment law, Human Resources,
change management, those with
lived experience and more.

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intrigued attendees most included building electrification, manufacturing of batteries and solar panels, rescuing surplus prepared food, and freshening up donated thrift store clothing, furniture, and housewares into valuable new items.

Workshop facilitators appreciated attendees sharing their stories and insights. Information gleaned during the three workshops will inform the Richmond Green-Blue New Deal Opportunities Report recommendations.

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January 2023
Community Profile &
Economic Development Insights
Richmond Green-Blue New Deal
Workforce Development Plan
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2 | HR&A Advisors
2 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Table of Contents
0 Executive Summary and Analysis Highlights / 3
1 Introduction / 29
2 Findings / 36
Richmond’s Overall Economy / 37
Richmond’s Green Jobs Today / 52
Richmond’s Green Jobs Wages / 66
Richmond’s Green Job Demographics / 71
Richmond’s Green Job Trends / 83
Richmond’s Municipal Budget / 88
3 Additional Methodological Notes / 991284
3 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY &

ANALYIS HIGHLIGHTS
00 3 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile 1285
4 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | ABOUT HR&A
HR&A Advisors is a national consulting firm providing services in inclusive growth, urban tech and innovation, program design and implementation, and place-based initiatives. 1286
5 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile HR&A is supporting the Appraccel team by profiling Richmond’s green-blue economy.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | COMMUNITY PROFILE OVERVIEW
1 Which of Richmond’s economic strengths are most relevant to the creation of Green Jobs? How many Green Jobs are in Richmond today?
Which occupations and industries in Richmond have the most Green Jobs? What are the demographics and wages of workers in Richmond Green Jobs? How does Richmond’s green economy compare to that of the county and metro area? The Community Profile addresses the following key questions:
2 3
4 5
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6 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | GREEN-BLUE JOB DEFINITION
Blue Jobs
Jobs that depend
on water
Green Jobs
Job that contribute to
preserving or
enhancing the natural
environment for
current and future
generations
Jobs that
depend on
water but are
not sustainable
Jobs included in this
Green-Blue New Deal
study
Water-dependent jobs
that also preserve or
enhance the natural
environment
Definitions of Green Jobs vary across
institutions, but all share a focus on
environmental sustainability. This study
includes all Green Jobs, with a special focus on
the subset that is water-dependent or “green-
blue”.

Definitions can help direct analysis. For this
study, the consulting team chose a definition
that has supporting data (e.g., industry-level
job data) in order to most closely align the
quantification with the definition.

Community resilience includes a much wider
group of jobs related to creating resilient
systems that can bounce back more easily
from shocks like wildfires, earthquakes, and
storm surges, and allow the local community
to support itself in the event it is cut off from
global supply chains include installing solar
emergency microgrids and natural levees,
creating local food systems and worker-owned
cooperatives. While those jobs are not
quantified in this study due to data limitations,
it’s important to recognize that a resilient
Richmond will require investment in these jobs
as well.

A green job is one that contributes to preserving or enhancing the natural environment for current and future generations.
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7 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile As part of a workforce development plan, this Community Profile focuses on jobs that require Green Skills and other jobs that support Green Industries.

Non-Green Industries
Green
Skill Jobs
Green
Supporting
Jobs
Green
Skill Jobs
Non-Green Jobs
(excluded)
Total Green Jobs in
Richmond
Example Job: HR
Administrator at Veolia
Example Job: Hazardous
Materials Remover at Veolia Environmental Engineer
at Jacobs Engineering
HR Administrator at
Jacobs Engineering
This study conservatively quantifies Green
Jobs using a skills-based methodology, thus
defining “Green Jobs” as those that explicitly
use Green Skills and/or support green
industries. Green Jobs contribute to
preserving or enhancing the natural
environment for current and future
generations.

This study identifies two types of Green Jobs.

Green Skill Jobs require specific skills related
to preserving or enhancing the natural
environment. Green Supporting Jobs do not
require Green Skills but are in an industry
whose activities preserve or enhance the
natural environment.

Green-Blue Jobs, occasionally called out in
the dataset, are Green Jobs that are water-
dependent. These jobs are already quantified
within Green Skill Jobs and Green Supporting
Jobs, but are highlighted separately due to
Richmond’s coastal proximity and port
economy.

Green Industries
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | GREEN-BLUE JOB DEFINITION
1289
8 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | Occupation Categories
To assess the differences between types of jobs, this study further divides jobs into four occupational categories.

PRODUCTION,

CONSTRUCTION, &

TRANSPORTATION
Produce or repair green products,
construct green buildings and
infrastructure, or transport green
products.

SOC Categories:
• 47: Construction and Extraction
Occupations
• 49: Installation, Maintenance,
and Repair Occupations
• 51: Production Occupations
• 53: Transportation and
Material Moving Occupations
Examples: Construction workers,
mechanics, drivers, contractors,
electricians, maintenance
workers.

OFFICE MANAGEMENT &

OPERATIONS
Support day-to-day operations of
green businesses and promote
green products and services.

SOC Categories:
• 11: Management Occupations
• 13: Business and Financial
Operations Occupations
• 41: Sales and Related
Occupations
• 43: Office and Administrative
Support Occupations
Examples: Outreach directors,
office administrators, business
directors, sustainability officers,
managers, sales associates.

TECHNICAL SERVICES
Require a high level of technical
training and skill.

SOC Categories:
• 15: Computer and Mathematical
Occupations
• 17: Architecture and Engineering
Occupations
• 19: Life, Physical, and Social
Science Occupations
• 23: Legal Occupations
Examples: Computer technology
professionals, software engineers,
architects, engineers,
environmental lawyers,
environmental scientists.

EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE,
& SOCIAL
Green jobs that do not fit into the
previous three categories,
including healthcare, education,
arts, food preparation, and
compliance occupations.

SOC Categories:
• All others
Examples: Film makers, travel
guides, librarians, graphic
designers, community organizers,
garden managers, .

OTHER SERVICES &

PROFESSIONS
1290
9 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Key Takeaways
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | OVERALL ECONOMY & GREEN JOBS
Richmond has approximately 51,000 total jobs.

Richmond’s key sectoral strengths relate to utilities, water transportation, building construction, machinery repair/maintenance industries, and research & development.These key industries point toward opportunities for the creation of high-road Green Jobs.

There are over 2,300 Green Jobs in Richmond, meaning almost one in every 20 jobs requires Green Skills, is in a Green Industry, or both.

Green Jobs make up a greater share of jobs in Richmond than in the County and the San Francisco MSA. However, between 2010-2019, Green Job growth in Richmond lagged overall job growth, while in the County and the MSA, Green Jobs grew at par with overall jobs. 1 2
3 4
1291
10 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Key Takeaways
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | SKILLS AND EMPLOYERS
40% of Green Jobs are in Production, Construction, and Transportation occupations, which typically do not require a college degree, but also tend to pay less than the average job.

Three percent of all Green Jobs in Richmond are readily identifiable as “Green-Blue Jobs” as they require Green Skills and are in water-dependent occupations.

Green Skills related to environmental health/safety, environmental science, and environmental regulations are commonly sought by employers in Richmond.

Many Green Jobs demand common non-Green Skills such as communication and management, meaning many workers are already partially qualified to work in Green Jobs.

Veolia, Republic Services, Schnitzer Steel, Cascade Environmental, and ICF International are actively hiring for the greatest number of positions that require Green Skills. 1 2
3 4
5 1292
11 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | WAGES
Key Takeaways
The average Green Job in Richmond pays $36 per hour, 24% higher than the average local job.

Green Jobs that require Green Skills tend to pay 41% more than Supporting Green Jobs, which are jobs in Green Industries that don’t require Green Skills.

For jobs that don’t require a college degree, Green Jobs pay a 17% premium ($4 more per hour).

Green jobs that require a college degree pay on average 85% more than those that don’t—a lower education premium for Green Jobs than for jobs overall. 1 2
3 4
1293
12 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile 17%31%40% 12%
Key Takeaways
1 The racial and ethnic breakdown of Green Jobs is similar to that of the overall worker population in Contra Costa County.
2 Green industries tend to be more diverse than non-green industries, with significantly higher representation of Black and Hispanic workers, though slightly lower Asian representation. 3 Although wages in Green Jobs rose faster for non-white workers from 2010 to 2021 than for white workers, Black and Hispanic workers still earn $14,100 less per year than white workers. 4 Half of Richmond’s workforce is female, but women hold less than one-third of its Green Jobs. 5 Among Green Jobs, there is a $4,000 pay gap between men and women, though it was almost

1.5 times as large in 2010.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | DEMOGRAPHICS
1294
13 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Economic Development Insights

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Richmond’s key sectoral strengths relate to utilities, water transportation, building construction, machinery repair/maintenance, and research & development. These key industries point toward opportunities for the creation of high -road Green Jobs.

Existing sectoral strengths reflect Richmond’s locational and physical assets, such as its waterfront, its port, its stock of industrial buildings, and its proximity to Bay Area innovation clusters. The City can leverage and reinforce each existing asset.

The City of Richmond has planned significant infrastructure investments for the next five years, many of which support environmental resilience and create Green Jobs in both construction and operation of those projects, for example, improving the efficiency of city -owned buildings and electrifying the port.

Even more impactful than directly supporting Green Jobs (e.g., by retrofitting its own buildings) the City will have opportunities to catalyze green private investment and job growth (e.g., by improving port facilities and supporting business incubation).

Without concerted effort, Richmond risks falling further behind regional peers with respect to Green Job growth.

Targeted workforce development and job placement efforts —including coordination with prospective employers—is needed so that Green Job opportunities are available to Richmond residents of all backgrounds and so that the injustices of past waves of economic growth are not repeated . 1 2
3 4
5 6
1295
14 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile

ANALYSIS HIGHLIGHTS
| HR&A Advisors
1296
15 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Almost one-half of Richmond’s workforce is employed in one of its top three sectors:
professional services, industrial trades, and retail.

ANALYSIS HIGHLIGHTS | ECONOMY OVERVIEW
17%31%40% 12%
51,400 Jobs
total jobs in Richmond (2021)
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data of 21 2-digitNAICS industries, grouped into sectors. 1297 16 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile After Retail Trade, the largest industries in Richmond by employment are Government and Construction. Transportation & Warehousing and Utilities are the fastest growing industries.

ANALYSIS HIGHLIGHTS | INDUSTRY STRENGTHS
Accommodation and
Food Services
Real Estate and Rental and
Leasing
Admin, Support and
Waste Management
Health Care and Social
Assistance
Other Services
Transportation and
Warehousing
Professional, Scientific,
Technical Services
Construction
Government Retail
Trade
Utilities*
-25%
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
125%
150%
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 9,000 Growth (2010-2021)
Number of Jobs in 2021
Jobs by Industry in Richmond (2021) and Jobs Growth (2010-2021) Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data, top 10 by number of jobs out of 21 2-digit NAICS industries. *Not in top 10 but added for relevance. 1298 17 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Location quotient and competitiveness effect are two metrics that highlight strengths by comparing local economic performance to national performance within specific industries.

ANALYSIS HIGHLIGHTS | INDUSTRY STRENGTHS
-350%
-250%
-150%
-50%
50%
150%
250%
350%
0 5 10
Competitive Growth %
Location quotient (LQ) quantifies how
concentrated a particular industry is in a region
as compared to the nation. An LQ of 1 means
the region and the nation have the same
composition of a particular industry, an LQ
greater than 1 means that the particular
industry is more concentrated in the region
than the nation, and an LQ less than one
means that the particular industry is less
concentrated in the region than the nation. For
example, a LQ of 3 for an industry means that
that industry makes up a 3 times greater share
of employment the region of study than in the
nation overall.

The regional competitiveness effect explains
how much of the change in a given industry is
due to some unique competitive advantage
that the region possesses. This effect is
calculated by taking the total regional growth
and subtracting the national growth for the
same industry. The regional growth that
remains cannot be explained by national
trends in that industry or the economy as a
whole. For example, a competitiveness effect of
200% for an industry means that the industry
grew at double the rate within the region than
in the nation ats a whole.

Location Quotient1
LQ>1 and CG>0%
Industries that are more concentrated and
growing faster in Richmond than in the
nation as a whole
LQ>1 and CG<0%
Industries that are more concentrated but
growing more slowly in Richmond than in
the nation as a whole
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data, out of 301 4-digit NAICS industries. 1299
18 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Natural Gas Distribution, Water Transportation, and Scientific R&D have high LQs and large workforces in Richmond.

ANALYSIS HIGHLIGHTS | INDUSTRY STRENGTHS
Coastal
Transportation
Commercial and Industrial
Machinery Manufacturing
and Repair
Scientific Research and
Development Services
Taxi and Limousine
Service
School and Employee
Bus Transportation
Miscellaneous Durable
Goods Merchant
Wholesalers
Residential
Building
Construction
Highway, Street, and
Bridge Construction
-350%
-250%
-150%
-50%
50%
150%
250%
350%
0 5 10 15
2010-2021 Competitive Growth %
Top 10* Competitive Industries in Richmond (2021)
Location Quotient
*Only including industries with more than 250 employees Size of bubble indicates the size of industry
-1200%
40 Natural Gas
Distribution
Direct Selling
Establishments
1 Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data,
out of 301 4-digit NAICS industries.
1 1300
19 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Non-Green Industries
Today, Richmond’s economy includes approximately 2,308 Green Jobs across both green (22%) and non-green (78%) industries. Further, 82% Green Jobs require specialized Green Skills, while the other 18% are supporting jobs in green industries.

ANALYSIS HIGHLIGHTS | GREEN JOB TOTALS
Green Industries
92 Green
Skill Jobs
426
Green
Supporting Jobs
1,790
Green
Skill Jobs
Non-Green Jobs
(excluded)
2,308
Total Green Jobs
in Richmond
(4.5% of All Jobs)
Top Occupation:

School Bus Drivers
Top Occupation:

Recyclable Material Collectors
Top Occupation:

General and Operations Managers
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data. Diagram not to scale. 1301 20 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Several of Richmond’s key industries are critical to the green economy.

ANALYSIS HIGHLIGHTS | INDUSTRY STRENGTHS
17%31%40% 12%
Industry Key Stats
(2010-2021) Implications for Green Jobs
Utilities
(2-digit NAICS)
2021 Jobs: 1,178
Growth: 117%
LQ: 8.72
Comp: 100%
Richmond’s current strength in the oil and natural gas industries will become a liability as fossil fuels are phased out. Richmond workers’ skills can be redirected and supplemented to support clean energy development and operation.

Water Transportation
(3-digit NAICS)
2021 Jobs: 374
Growth: 45%
LQ: 24.39
Comp: 112%
Water transportation tends to have a relatively low carbon footprint, so climate action may entail growth in this sector. The electrification of freight and passenger vessels and drayage trucks, and the development of infrastructure to support electric vessels, are still emerging fields.

Commercial/Industrial Machinery
Manufacturing & Repair
(4-digit NAICS)
2021 Jobs: 674
Growth: 27%
LQ: 6.90
Comp: 73%
Extending the life of existing equipment through maintenance, repair, and refurbishment is critical for minimizing waste. Decarbonization will also entail the creation of new commercial and industrial machinery.

Building Construction & Services
(3-digit NAICS)
2021 Jobs: 1,843
Growth: 45%
LQ: 3.34
Comp: 37%
Electrification and energy efficiency retrofits are labor-intensive investments that will require skilled workers throughout the region to construct and service. This is a major employment industry in Richmond that can be leveraged.

Research & Development
(4-digit NAICS)
2021 Jobs: 1,155
Growth: -24%
LQ: 5.58
Comp: -231%
Greening the economy requires innovation; although Richmond currently has a relatively high concentration of R&D jobs, its growth in this area has lagged behind the national average.

Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data. 1302
21 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile In Richmond, 39% of Green Jobs are in Production, Construction, and Transportation occupations, whereas in surrounding areas, Green Jobs are more evenly divided between occupation categories.
31%
35%
39%
28%
28%
31%
23%
22%
19%
17%
15%
11%
San Francisco MSA's Green
Jobs
Contra Costa County's
Green Jobs
Richmond's Green Jobs
Green Jobs by Occupation Group, by Region (2021)
Production, Construction, and Transportation Office, Management, and Operations Technical Services Other Services and Professions
ANALYSIS HIGHLIGHTS | OCCUPATION CATEGORIES
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data. 1303
22 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Overall, Green Job workers earn 24% higher wages compared to the average Richmond worker. Within Green Jobs, Green Skill Jobs pay a 31% premium, while wages in Green Supporting Jobs are slightly lower than the overall economy.

ANALYSIS HIGHLIGHTS | WAGES
$36
$38
$27
$29
All Green Jobs Green Skill Jobs Green Supporting Jobs All Jobs Median Hourly Wage of Green Jobs by category in Richmond (2021) Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data. 1304
23 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile There are 77 jobs in Richmond readily identifiable as being in “Green-Blue Jobs”, comprising 3% of all Green Jobs. These jobs require Green Skills and are in occupations that are significantly involved in the blue economy.
17 16
12 7 6
4 4 4 4
2 Richmond’s Green-Blue Jobs by Occupation and
Percent of Jobs in Occupation Requiring Green Skills (2021) 14%100% 100% 15%100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
ANALYSIS HIGHLIGHTS | GREEN-BLUE OCCUPATIONS
Source: HR&A’s analysis of analysis of 50,781 job postings from 2017-2021 through Lightcast, out of 867 5-digit SOC occupations. 1305
24 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Green Jobs are racially representative of Contra Costa County’s overall economy but not of its population. Among Green Jobs, Green Supporting Jobs are more diverse than Green Skill Jobs. Similarly, green industries are more diverse than non-green industries.

ANALYSIS HIGHLIGHTS | RACE & ETHNICITY
28%
31%
27%
32%
28%
27%
27%
5%
14%
5%
13%
7%
7%
9%
14%
11%
15%
11%
14%
16%
19%
4%
4%
4%
4%
4%
4%
4%
48%
40%
49%
40%
47%
45%
41%
Green Skill Jobs
Green Supporting Jobs
Non-Green Industries
Green Industries
All Green Jobs
All Jobs
Contra Costa County
Racial Representation, by Category (2021)
Hispanic Black Asian Other White
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data. Demographic data for jobs is not available for Richmond so all job demographics are based on Richmond job data and Contra Costa county demographic data. 1306 25 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Veolia, Republic Services, Schnitzer Steel, Cascade Environmental, and ICF International are actively hiring the greatest number of Green Skill Jobs in Richmond.

Examples: Wastewater Operators, Collections
Technicians, Maintenance Technicians
Examples: Customer Service Advisors, Production
Crews, Vehicle Purchasing Agents
Examples: Environmental Chemists, Data
Validation Specialists, Chemistry Laboratory
Technicians
Examples: Recycling Truck Drivers, Transfer
Drivers, Landfill Heavy Equipment Operators
Examples: Driller Assistants, Drillers,
Field Assistants
ANALYSIS HIGHLIGHTS | TOP-HIRING EMPLOYERS
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data. Examples represent the top green skill job titles at each company by number of postings in recent years.1307 26 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Green Jobs in Richmond most often require Management, Communications, and Operations Skills in addition to Green Skills such as Environmental Health & Safety.

Management
Communications
Operations
Environmental Health & Safety
Problem Solving
Environmental Health & Safety
Environmental Laws, Environmental Health, etc.

Science
Environmental Science, Soil Science, etc.

Regulatory
Waste Management, Environmental Compliance, Environmental Issue, etc.

Technical
Environmental Engineering, Geology, Geotechnical Engineering, etc.

Waste
Wastewater, Sewage Treatments, Recycling, etc.

ANALYSIS HIGHLIGHTS | TOP SKILLS
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data.

Top 5 Skills in Jobs Requiring Green Skills
Where size of bubbles represents relative occurrence of these skills.

Top 5 Green Skills in Green Jobs
Where size of bubbles represents relative occurrence of these skills. 1308
27 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Many Green Jobs demand common non-Green Skills such as communication and management, meaning many workers are already partially qualified to work in Green Jobs.

The top skills listed across all Green Job postings
include communications, management, and
operations. Additional skills include customer
service, leadership, writing, and planning. This
indicates that many professionals may be able to
readily be employed in Green Jobs despite
preconceived notions about the prerequisites.

Some Green Skill Jobs call for environmentally-
specific skills like data compilation,
environmental planning, or wastewater operator
certification.

Finally, in non-green industries, many workers
may develop Green Skills that they use during
some parts of their job. For instance,
construction and operations are both frequently
listed in green skill job postings – many
construction professionals have transferrable
skills that can be used in Green Jobs.

Sample Green Job Titles
Posted in Richmond: General
Managers, Production
Supervisors, Research
Associates, Project Managers,
Maintenance Supervisors
Sample Green Job Titles
Posted in Richmond:

Laboratory Technicians,
Chemical Process Operators,
Field Assistants, Project
Engineers, Environmental
Chemists
Sample Green Job Titles
Posted in Richmond: Operator
Helpers, Maintenance
Technicians, Drillers, Recycling
Truck Drivers, Production Crews,
Warehouse Receivers, Vehicle
Maintenance
Green Skill Jobs and
Supporting Jobs
in both green and non-
green industries
Green Skill Jobs
in green industries
Green Skill Jobs
in non-green industries
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data.

ANALYSIS HIGHLIGHTS | TOP SKILLS
1309
28 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Green Jobs make up a greater share of jobs in Richmond than in the County and the MSA.

However, between 2010-2019, Green Job growth in Richmond lagged the overall job growth, while in the County and the MSA, Green Jobs grew almost at par with overall jobs.

ANALYSIS HIGHLIGHTS | COMPARATIVE GROWTH TRENDS
18%
20%
28%
11%
17%
29%
Richmond Contra Costa County San Francisco MSA
Jobs Growth, by Region (2010-2019)
All Jobs Green Jobs

1.8% CAGR

1.2% CAGR

2.8% CAGR

1.8% CAGR

2.0% CAGR

2.8% CAGR4.5%

3.2% 3.1%
Richmond Contra Costa
County
San Francisco
MSA
Share of Green Jobs in Entire
Workforce, by Region (2021)
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data. 1310
29 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile

INTRODUCTION
01 29 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile 1311
30 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile INTRODUCTION | ABOUT HR&A
HR&A Advisors is a national consulting firm providing services in inclusive growth, urban tech and innovation, program design and implementation, and place-based initiatives. 1312
31 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile HR&A is supporting the Appraccel team by profiling Richmond’s green-blue economy.

INTRODUCTION | COMMUNITY PROFILE OVERVIEW
1 Which of Richmond’s economic strengths are most relevant to the creation of Green Jobs? How many Green Jobs are in Richmond today?
Which occupations and industries in Richmond have the most Green Jobs? What are the demographics and wages of workers in Richmond Green Jobs? How does Richmond’s green economy compare to that of the county and metro area? The Community Profile addresses the following key questions:
2 3
4 5
1313
32 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile INTRODUCTION | GREEN-BLUE JOB DEFINITION
Blue Jobs
Jobs that depend
on water
Green Jobs
Job that contribute to
preserving or
enhancing the natural
environment for
current and future
generations
Jobs that
depend on
water but are
not sustainable
Jobs included in this
Green-Blue New Deal
study
Water-dependent jobs
that also preserve or
enhance the natural
environment
Definitions of Green Jobs vary across
institutions, but all share a focus on
environmental sustainability. This study
includes all Green Jobs, with a special focus on
the subset that is water-dependent or “green-
blue”.

Definitions can help direct analysis. For this
study, the consulting team chose a definition
that has supporting data (e.g., industry-level
job data) in order to most closely align the
quantification with the definition.

Community resilience includes a much wider
group of jobs related to creating resilient
systems that can bounce back more easily
from shocks like wildfires, earthquakes, and
storm surges, and allow the local community
to support itself in the event it is cut off from
global supply chains include installing solar
emergency microgrids and natural levees,
creating local food systems and worker-owned
cooperatives. While those jobs are not
quantified in this study due to data limitations,
it’s important to recognize that a resilient
Richmond will require investment in these jobs
as well.

A green job is one that contributes to preserving or enhancing the natural environment for current and future generations.
1314
33 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile As part of a workforce development plan, this Community Profile focuses on jobs that require Green Skills and other jobs that support Green Industries.

Non-Green Industries
Green
Skill Jobs
Green
Supporting
Jobs
Green
Skill Jobs
Non-Green Jobs
(excluded)
Total Green Jobs in
Richmond
Example Job: HR
Administrator at Veolia
Example Job: Hazardous
Materials Remover at Veolia Environmental Engineer
at Jacobs Engineering
HR Administrator at
Jacobs Engineering
This study conservatively quantifies Green
Jobs using a skills-based methodology, thus
defining “Green Jobs” as those that explicitly
use Green Skills and/or support green
industries. Green Jobs contribute to
preserving or enhancing the natural
environment for current and future
generations.

This study identifies two types of Green Jobs.

Green Skill Jobs require specific skills related
to preserving or enhancing the natural
environment. Green Supporting Jobs do not
require Green Skills but are in an industry
whose activities preserve or enhance the
natural environment.

Green-Blue Jobs, occasionally called out in
the dataset, are Green Jobs that are water-
dependent. These jobs are already quantified
within Green Skill Jobs and Green Supporting
Jobs, but are highlighted separately due to
Richmond’s coastal proximity and port
economy.

Green Industries
INTRODUCTION | GREEN-BLUE JOB DEFINITION
1315
34 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile

INTRODUCTION
This study uses the best available data on jobs and job postings in Richmond to estimate the number of Green Jobs and characterize worker demographics. *HR&A is relying on Lightcast (formerly EMSI), a third-party labor data aggregation firm, to gather the share of job postings in various industries with green skills as a share of total jobs postings over the last 3-5 years. Lightcast has a Green Skills category established through benchmarking popular studies on green jobs, which can be modified if needed to suit our definitions.

Total Estimated
Green Skill Jobs
in Richmond
Occupations and Worker
Demographics
Green Skills and
Occupational Groups
Job Postings with Green
Skills in Richmond
Total Job Postings in
Richmond
Major Companies
Total Jobs in
Richmond, by
Occupation
(Lightcast
Estimate)
Green Skill Requirement
Percentage, by Occupation

1. Using historic job postings on
Lightcast1, first determine the
percentage of jobs in each
occupation that require Green Skills.

2. Pro-rate each occupation’s share of
Green Skill Jobs by applying the
green skill requirement percentage
to the total number of jobs in that
occupation.

Total Green
Supporting Jobs
in Richmond

1. Using Lightcast1, calculate total jobs
in green industries, based on a
national Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS) survey on the percent of each
industry’s revenue derived from
green activities.

2. Subtract the Green Skill Jobs in green
industries previously calculated to
estimate the number of jobs that are
in green industries but do not
require Green Skills.

GREEN SUPPORTING JOBS

GREEN SKILL JOBS
Total Jobs in
Green Industries
in Richmond
(Lightcast
Estimate)
Total Green Skill Jobs in
Green Industries in
Richmond

3. Categorize Green Skill Jobs and
Green Supporting Jobs to enable
more nuanced analysis along
dimensions including skills,
occupation groups, major
companies, and demographics.
1316
35 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile INTRODUCTION | Occupation Categories
To assess the differences between types of jobs, this study further divides jobs into four occupational categories.

PRODUCTION,

CONSTRUCTION, &

TRANSPORTATION
Produce or repair green products,
construct green buildings and
infrastructure, or transport green
products.

SOC Categories:
• 47: Construction and Extraction
Occupations
• 49: Installation, Maintenance,
and Repair Occupations
• 51: Production Occupations
• 53: Transportation and
Material Moving Occupations
Examples: Construction workers,
mechanics, drivers, contractors,
electricians, maintenance
workers.

OFFICE MANAGEMENT &

OPERATIONS
Support day-to-day operations of
green businesses and promote
green products and services.

SOC Categories:
• 11: Management Occupations
• 13: Business and Financial
Operations Occupations
• 41: Sales and Related
Occupations
• 43: Office and Administrative
Support Occupations
Examples: Outreach directors,
office administrators, business
directors, sustainability officers,
managers, sales associates.

TECHNICAL SERVICES
Require a high level of technical
training and skill.

SOC Categories:
• 15: Computer and Mathematical
Occupations
• 17: Architecture and Engineering
Occupations
• 19: Life, Physical, and Social
Science Occupations
• 23: Legal Occupations
Examples: Computer technology
professionals, software engineers,
architects, engineers,
environmental lawyers,
environmental scientists.

EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE,
& SOCIAL
Green jobs that do not fit into the
previous three categories,
including healthcare, education,
arts, food preparation, and
compliance occupations.

SOC Categories:
• All others
Examples: Film makers, travel
guides, librarians, graphic
designers, community organizers,
garden managers, .

OTHER SERVICES &

PROFESSIONS
1317
36 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile

FINDINGS
02 36 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile 1318
37 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile

OVERALL ECONOMY
RICHMOND’S
| HR&A Advisors
1319
38 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Almost one-half of Richmond’s workforce is employed in one of its top three sectors:
professional services, industrial trades, and retail.

OVERALL ECONOMY | OVERVIEW
17%31%40% 12%
51,400 Jobs
total jobs in Richmond (2021)
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data of 21 2-digit NAICS industries, grouped into sectors. 1320
39 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Sales occupations are the largest in Richmond, followed by Transportation & Moving, and Management occupations. Healthcare occupations are the fastest growing in Richmond.

OVERALL ECONOMY | OVERVIEW
185, +1%
229, +29%
419, +18%
782, +0%
807, -9%
866, +23%
914, +28%
1,102, +22%
1,212, +28%
1,269, +95%
1,568, -4%
1,739, +1%
1,872, +10%
2,041, +15%
2,264, -6%
2,454, +12%
2,877, +6%
3,131, +28%
3,756, +15%
3,962, -10%
4,481, +53%
5,760, +58%
7,749, -4%
Military Specific
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry
Legal
Architecture and Engineering
Life, Physical, and Social Science
Protective Service
Community and Social Service
Computer and Mathematical
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
Healthcare Support
Personal Care and Service
Production
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair
Food Preparation and Serving Related
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance
Educational Instruction and Library
Business and Financial Operations
Construction and Extraction
Office and Administrative Support
Management
Transportation and Material Moving
Sales and Related
Jobs by Occupation in Richmond (2021) and Jobs Growth (2010-2021) Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data of 23 2-digit SOC occupations. . 1321
40 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile After Taxi Drivers, top growing occupations include Health Care Aides, Managers, Cashiers, and Business Operations Specialists.

OVERALL ECONOMY | OVERVIEW
17%31%40% 12%
+29%
91 +22%
96 +44%
100
+39%
104
+42%
109
+16%
109
+25%
110
+89%
114
+59%
123
+83%
123
+19%
134
+68%
143
+32%
153
+52%
185
+79%
188
+16%
218
+42%
220
+75%
335
+291%
586
+1112%
1,638 Top 20 Occupations by Number of Jobs Added between 2010-2021 in Richmond Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data, out of 867 5-digit SOC occupations. 1322
41 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile After Retail Trade, the largest industries in Richmond by employment are Government and Construction. Transportation & Warehousing and Utilities are the fastest growing industries.

OVERALL ECONOMY | INDUSTRY SIZE & GROWTH
Accommodation and
Food Services
Real Estate and Rental and
Leasing
Admin, Support and
Waste Management
Health Care and Social
Assistance
Other Services
Transportation and
Warehousing
Professional, Scientific,
Technical Services
Construction
Government Retail
Trade
Utilities*
-25%
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
125%
150%
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 9,000 Growth (2010-2021)
Number of Jobs in 2021
Jobs by Industry in Richmond (2021) and Jobs Growth (2010-2021) Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data, top 10 by number of jobs out of 21 2-digit NAICS industries. *Not in top 10 but added for relevance. 1323
42 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Location quotient and competitiveness effect are two metrics that highlight strengths by comparing local economic performance to national performance within specific industries.

OVERALL ECONOMY | INDUSTRY STRENGTHS
-350%
-250%
-150%
-50%
50%
150%
250%
350%
0 5 10
Competitive Growth %
Location quotient (LQ) quantifies how
concentrated a particular industry is in a region
as compared to the nation. An LQ of 1 means
the region and the nation have the same
composition of a particular industry, an LQ
greater than 1 means that the particular
industry is more concentrated in the region
than the nation, and an LQ less than one
means that the particular industry is less
concentrated in the region than the nation. For
example, a LQ of 3 for an industry means that
that industry makes up a 3 times greater share
of employment the region of study than in the
nation overall.

The regional competitiveness effect explains
how much of the change in a given industry is
due to some unique competitive advantage
that the region possesses. This effect is
calculated by taking the total regional growth
and subtracting the national growth for the
same industry. The regional growth that
remains cannot be explained by national
trends in that industry or the economy as a
whole. For example, a competitiveness effect of
200% for an industry means that the industry
grew at double the rate within the region than
in the nation ats a whole.

Location Quotient1
LQ>1 and CG>0%
Industries that are more concentrated and
growing faster in Richmond than in the
nation as a whole
LQ>1 and CG<0%
Industries that are more concentrated but
growing more slowly in Richmond than in
the nation as a whole
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data, out of 301 4-digit NAICS industries. 1324
43 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Natural Gas Distribution, Water Transportation, and Scientific R&D have high LQs and large workforces in Richmond.

OVERALL ECONOMY | INDUSTRY STRENGTHS
Coastal
Transportation
Commercial and Industrial
Machinery Manufacturing
and Repair
Scientific Research and
Development Services
Taxi and Limousine
Service
School and Employee
Bus Transportation
Miscellaneous Durable
Goods Merchant
Wholesalers
Residential
Building
Construction
Highway, Street, and
Bridge Construction
-350%
-250%
-150%
-50%
50%
150%
250%
350%
0 5 10 15
2010-2021 Competitive Growth %
Top 10* Competitive Industries in Richmond (2021)
Location Quotient
*Only including industries with more than 250 employees Size of bubble indicates the size of industry
-1200%
40 Natural Gas
Distribution
Direct Selling
Establishments
1 Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data, out of 301 4-digit NAICS industries. 1 1325
44 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Several of Richmond’s key industries are critical to the green economy.

OVERALL ECONOMY | INDUSTRY STRENGTHS
17%31%40% 12%
Industry Key Stats
(2010-2021) Implications for Green Jobs
Utilities
(2-digit NAICS)
2021 Jobs: 1,178
Growth: 117%
LQ: 8.72
Comp: 100%
Richmond’s current strength in the oil and natural gas industries will become a liability as fossil fuels are phased out. Richmond workers’ skills can be redirected and supplemented to support clean energy development and operation.

Water Transportation
(3-digit NAICS)
2021 Jobs: 374
Growth: 45%
LQ: 24.39
Comp: 112%
Water transportation tends to have a relatively low carbon footprint, so climate action may entail growth in this sector. The electrification of freight and passenger vessels and drayage trucks, and the development of infrastructure to support electric vessels, are still emerging fields.

Commercial/Industrial Machinery
Manufacturing & Repair
(4-digit NAICS)
2021 Jobs: 674
Growth: 27%
LQ: 6.90
Comp: 73%
Extending the life of existing equipment through maintenance, repair, and refurbishment is critical for minimizing waste. Decarbonization will also entail the creation of new commercial and industrial machinery.

Building Construction & Services
(3-digit NAICS)
2021 Jobs: 1,843
Growth: 45%
LQ: 3.34
Comp: 37%
Electrification and energy efficiency retrofits are labor-intensive investments that will require skilled workers throughout the region to construct and service. This is a major employment industry in Richmond that can be leveraged.

Research & Development
(4-digit NAICS)
2021 Jobs: 1,155
Growth: -24%
LQ: 5.58
Comp: -231%
Greening the economy requires innovation; although Richmond currently has a relatively high concentration of R&D jobs, its growth in this area has lagged behind the national average.

Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data.
1326
45 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Federal data shows 1,600 local jobs in fossil fuel industries, a 44% increase since 2010. This number does not include jobs within supporting divisions of large fossil fuel companies like Chevron, or supporting businesses in other industries.

OVERALL ECONOMY | FOSSIL FUEL CLUSTER
-40%
14 +10%
21 -19%
31 +7%
101
+89%
110
-3%
194
+135%
1,122
Other Gasoline
Stations
Solid Waste
Combustors
and
Incinerators
Fuel DealersPetroleum and
Petroleum
Products
Merchant
Wholesalers
Petroleum
Lubricating Oil
and Grease
Manufacturing
Gasoline
Stations with
Convenience
Stores
Natural Gas
Distribution
Extractive Industry Jobs in Richmond (2021) with Change in Jobs (2010-2021) 3,264 Total
Employees
Largest Employer in
Richmond (2021)
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data and City of Richmond data. 1327
46 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Natural Gas Distribution, Petroleum Products Wholesalers, and Petroleum Products Manufacturing, all have very high location quotient in Richmond. +631 Jobs
+4 Jobs -101 Jobs
-43 Jobs

37.12 LQ

3.87 LQ 3.83 LQ

0.82 LQ
0 5
10 15
20 25
30 35
40 -200
-100
0 100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Natural Gas Distribution
Petroleum and Petroleum
Products Merchant
Wholesalers
Petroleum and Coal
Products Manufacturing Gasoline Stations
Richmond’s Fossil Fuel Industry Cluster LQs (2021) and Number of Jobs Gained/Lost due to Competitive Factors (2010-2021)
OVERALL ECONOMY | FOSSIL FUEL CLUSTER
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data.
1328
47 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Richmond has over 500 jobs in Water Transportation, including support activities for water transportation, experiencing significant growth over the last decade.

OVERALL ECONOMY | WATER TRANSPORTATION CLUSTER
+68%
148
+40%
369
Support Activities for Water TransportationDeep Sea, Coastal, and Great Lakes Water Transportation
Water Transportation Jobs in Richmond (2021) with Change in Jobs (2010-2021) Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data.
1329
48 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Water Transportation overall has one of the highest location quotients in Richmond and has grown over the last decade due to competitive advantages. +126 Jobs +53 Jobs

36.55 LQ

5.61 LQ
0 5
10 15
20 25
30 35
40 0
20 40
60 80
100
120
140
Deep Sea, Coastal, and Great Lakes Water Transportation Support Activities for Water Transportation Richmond’s Water Transportation Cluster LQs (2021) and Number of Jobs Gained due to Competitive Factors (2010-2021)
OVERALL ECONOMY | WATER TRANSPORTATION CLUSTER
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data.
1330
49 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Richmond has 6,700+ jobs in building, construction, and related service industries, all of which have grown over the last decade.

OVERALL ECONOMY | BUILDING, CONSTRUCTION AND SERVICE CLUSTER 17%31% 12%
+26%
149
+23%
338
+27%
458
+46%
653
+29%
748
+21%
904
+56%
1,416
+25%
2,073
Other Heavy
and Civil
Engineering
Construction
Foundation,
Structure, and
Building
Exterior
Contractors
Nonresidential
Building
Construction
Building
Equipment
Contractors
Other Specialty
Trade
Contractors
Building
Finishing
Contractors
Residential
Building
Construction
Services to
Buildings and
Dwellings
Building, Construction and Service Jobs in Richmond (2021) with Change in Jobs (2010-2021)
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data.
1331
50 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Residential Construction and Services to Buildings have gained significant number of jobs over the last decade due to competitive factors.
17%31% 12%
+180 Jobs
+16 Jobs
+37 Jobs +27 Jobs
+144 Jobs
+44 Jobs
-11 Jobs
+47 Jobs

3.43 LQ 3.41 LQ

1.95 LQ 1.94 LQ 1.93 LQ 1.91 LQ

0.97 LQ 0.90 LQ
0 0.5
1 1.5
2 2.5
3 3.5
4 -50
0 50
100
150
200
Residential
Building
Construction
Other Heavy
and Civil
Engineering
Construction
Building
Finishing
Contractors
Nonresidential
Building
Construction
Services to
Buildings and
Dwellings
Other Specialty
Trade
Contractors
Foundation,
Structure, and
Building
Exterior
Contractors
Building
Equipment
Contractors
Richmond’s Building, Construction, and Service Cluster and Number of Jobs Gained/Lost due to Competitive Factors (2021)
OVERALL ECONOMY | BUILDING, CONSTRUCTION AND SERVICE CLUSTER Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data.
1332
51 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Key Takeaways

OVERALL ECONOMY
1 Richmond has approximately 51,000 total jobs.
2 Almost one-half of Richmond’s workforce is employed in one of its top three sectors: industrial, and professional service, and retail.
3 Richmond’s key sectoral strengths relate to utilities, water transportation, building construction, machinery repair/maintenance industries, and research & development. 4 Richmond’s key industries point toward opportunities for the creation of high-road Green Jobs. 1333
52 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile

GREEN JOBS TODAY
RICHMOND’S
1334
53 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Non-Green Industries
Today, Richmond’s economy includes approximately 2,308 Green Jobs across both green (22%) and non-green (78%) industries. Further, 82% Green Jobs require specialized Green Skills, while the other 18% are supporting jobs in green industries.

GREEN JOBS | TOTALS
Green Industries
92 Green
Skill Jobs
426
Green
Supporting Jobs
1,790
Green
Skill Jobs
Non-Green Jobs
(excluded)
2,308
Total Green Jobs
in Richmond
(4.5% of All Jobs)
Top Occupation:

School Bus Drivers
Top Occupation:

Recyclable Material Collectors
Top Occupation:

General and Operations Managers
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data. Diagram not to scale. 1335
54 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile

REGIONAL COMPARISON
Richmond has a greater share of its workforce employed in Green Jobs compared to both the Contra Costa County and the entire MSA.

4.5%

3.2% 3.1%
Richmond Contra Costa County San Francisco MSA
Share of Green Jobs in Entire Workforce, by Region (2021) Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data.
1336
55 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Almost 40% of Green Jobs fall under Production, Construction, and Transportation occupations, followed by 31% in Office, Management, and Operations occupations.

GREEN JOBS TODAY
894
713
445
255
Production, Construction,
and Transportation
Office, Management, and
Operations
Technical Services Other Services and
Professions
Green Jobs by Occupational Groups in Richmond (2021)
19%31%39% 11%
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data.
1337
56 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile In Richmond, 39% of Green Jobs are in Production, Construction, and Transportation occupations, whereas in surrounding areas, Green Jobs are more evenly divided between occupation categories.
31%
35%
39%
28%
28%
31%
23%
22%
19%
17%
15%
11%
San Francisco MSA's Green
Jobs
Contra Costa County's
Green Jobs
Richmond's Green Jobs
Green Jobs by Occupation Group, by Region (2021)
Production, Construction, and Transportation Office, Management, and Operations Technical Services Other Services and Professions
GREEN JOBS | OCCUPATION CATEGORIES
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data.
1338
57 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile GREEN JOBS | TOP OCCUPATIONS
Managers (General and Operations Managers and All Other) is the largest Green Skill occupation, constituting 194 jobs or 8.4% of all Green Jobs in Richmond.

Entry Level
Education
Above Bachelor’s
Below Bachelor’s
24 107
49 3731
23 39
83 24
3640
87 24
63 273024
51 2730
Green Jobs in Top 20 Occupations for Green Skill Jobs in Richmond (2021) $16 $25 $30 $40 $50 $56Median Hourly Wage:

Occupation Group
Production,
Construction,
Transportation
Office,
Management,
Operations
Technical
Other
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data, out of 867 5-digit SOC occupations. 1339
58 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile In some occupations like environmental scientists and recycling collectors, all jobs require Green Skills. In most other occupations, only a portion of jobs require Green Skills.

GREEN JOBS | TOP OCCUPATIONS
Entry Level
Education
Above Bachelor’s
Below Bachelor’s
27%
14%20%24%
67%
100%
11%
59%
24%23%18%
11%
23%
100%100%
12%7%
37%
4%3%
Share of Green Jobs in Top 20 Occupations for Green Skill Jobs in Richmond (2021) $16 $25 $30 $40 $50 $56Median Hourly Wage:

Occupation Group
Production,
Construction,
Transportation
Office,
Management,
Operations
Technical
Other
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data, out of 867 5-digit SOC occupations. 1340
59 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile The top 20 occupations constitute 44% of all Green Jobs in Richmond, and only 8 require education above a B.A.

GREEN JOBS | TOP OCCUPATIONS
Entry Level
Education
Above Bachelor’s
Below Bachelor’s
25 108
49 38
31 39
83 26
3742
88 63
27 35
57 30
126
51 2730
Number of Green Jobs in Top 20 Occupations for Green Jobs in Richmond (2021) $16 $25 $30 $40 $50 $56Median Hourly Wage:

Occupation Group
Production,
Construction,
Transportation
Office,
Management,
Operations
Technical
Other
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data, out of 867 5-digit SOC occupations. 1341
60 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile There are 77 jobs in Richmond readily identifiable as “Green-Blue Jobs”, comprising 3% of all Green Jobs. These jobs require Green Skills and are in occupations that are significantly involved in the blue economy.
17 16
12 7 6
4 4 4 4
2 Richmond’s Green-Blue Jobs by Occupation and
Percent of Jobs in Occupation Requiring Green Skills (2021) 14%100% 100% 15%100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
GREEN JOBS | GREEN-BLUE OCCUPATIONS
Source: HR&A’s analysis of analysis of 50,781 job postings from 2017-2021 through Lightcast, out of 867 5-digit SOC occupations. 1342
61 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Among green industries, School and Employee Bus Transportation make up 49% of Green Jobs, followed by Nonhazardous Waste (17%), and Hazardous Waste (10%).

GREEN JOBS TODAY
38444553
86 251
TransitRenewable Electric
Power Generation
Used MerchandiseHazardous WasteNonhazardous
Waste
School and
Employee Bus
Transportation
Green Jobs in Green Industries in Richmond (2021)
Other
Typically Public Services
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data.
1343
62 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Veolia, Republic Services, Schnitzer Steel, Cascade Environmental, and ICF International are actively hiring the greatest number of Green Skill Jobs in Richmond.

Examples: Wastewater Operators, Collections
Technicians, Maintenance Technicians
Examples: Customer Service Advisors, Production
Crews, Vehicle Purchasing Agents
Examples: Environmental Chemists, Data
Validation Specialists, Chemistry Laboratory
Technicians
Examples: Recycling Truck Drivers, Transfer
Drivers, Landfill Heavy Equipment Operators
Examples: Driller Assistants, Drillers,
Field Assistants
GREEN JOBS | TOP-HIRING EMPLOYERS
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data. Examples represent the top green skill job titles at each company by number of postings in recent years. 1344
63 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Green Jobs in Richmond most often require Management, Communications, and Operations Skills in addition to Green Skills such as Environmental Health & Safety.

Management
Communications
Operations
Environmental Health & Safety
Problem Solving
Environmental Health & Safety
Environmental Laws, Environmental Health, etc.

Science
Environmental Science, Soil Science, etc.

Regulatory
Waste Management, Environmental Compliance, Environmental Issue, etc.

Technical
Environmental Engineering, Geology, Geotechnical Engineering, etc.

Waste
Wastewater, Sewage Treatments, Recycling, etc.

GREEN JOBS | TOP SKILLS
Top 5 Skills in Jobs Requiring Green Skills
Where size of bubbles represents relative occurrence of these skills.

Top 5 Green Skills in Green Jobs
Where size of bubbles represents relative occurrence of these skills.

Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data.
1345
64 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Many Green Jobs demand common non-Green Skills such as communication and management, meaning many workers are already partially qualified to work in Green Jobs.

The top skills listed across all Green Job postings
include communications, management, and
operations. Additional skills include customer
service, leadership, writing, and planning. This
indicates that many professionals may be able to
readily be employed in Green Jobs despite
preconceived notions about the prerequisites.

Some Green Skill Jobs call for environmentally-
specific skills like data compilation,
environmental planning, or wastewater operator
certification.

Finally, in non-green industries, many workers
may develop Green Skills that they use during
some parts of their job. For instance,
construction and operations are both frequently
listed in green skill job postings – many
construction professionals have transferrable
skills that can be used in Green Jobs.

Sample Green Job Titles
Posted in Richmond: General
Managers, Production
Supervisors, Research
Associates, Project Managers,
Maintenance Supervisors
Sample Green Job Titles
Posted in Richmond:

Laboratory Technicians,
Chemical Process Operators,
Field Assistants, Project
Engineers, Environmental
Chemists
Sample Green Job Titles
Posted in Richmond: Operator
Helpers, Maintenance
Technicians, Drillers, Recycling
Truck Drivers, Production Crews,
Warehouse Receivers, Vehicle
Maintenance
Green Skill Jobs and
Supporting Jobs
in both green and non-
green industries
Green Skill Jobs
in green industries
Green Skill Jobs
in non-green industries
GREEN JOBS | TOP SKILLS
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data.
1346
65 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile

GREEN JOBS TODAY
Key Takeaways
1 There are almost 2,300 Green Jobs in Richmond, meaning more than one in every 22 jobs requires Green Skills, is in a green industry, or both. 2 Forty percent of Green Jobs are in Production, Construction, and Transportation occupations, which typically do not require a college degree, but also tend to pay less than the average job. 3 A large proportion of Green Jobs in Richmond are in providing public services, such as school transportation, public transit, and waste collection/disposal. 4 Richmond companies actively hiring for Green Skills include those providing environmental remediation services; recycling metals; and selling environmentally friendly food and other consumer products.
5 The most commonly sought-after Green Skills are related to environmental health and safety, followed by those related to environmental science and regulations. 6 Green jobs also require common non-Green Skills, such as those related to communication, management, and operations.
1347
66 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile

GREEN JOB WAGES
RICHMOND’S
1348
67 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Overall, Green Job workers earn 24% higher wages compared to the average Richmond worker. Within Green Jobs, Green Skill Jobs pay a 31% premium, while wages in Green Supporting Jobs are slightly lower than the overall economy.

GREEN JOB WAGES
$36
$38
$27
$29
All Green Jobs Green Skill Jobs Green Supporting Jobs All Jobs Median Hourly Wage of Green Jobs by category in Richmond (2021) +24%
-7%
+31%
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data.
1349
68 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Green Jobs in Office, Management, and Operations and Production, Construction, and Transportation pay 1.3 times and 1.2 times that of overall economy, while Green Jobs in Technical Services pay 0.9 times. Green jobs in Other Services & Professions pay at par.

GREEN JOB WAGES
$29
$43 $45
$25$24
$33
$50
$26
Production, Construction,
and Transportation
Office, Management, and
Operations
Technical Services Other Services and
Professions
Median Hourly Wage of Green Jobs by Occupational Groups in Richmond (2021) Green Jobs All Jobs
+21%
+30%
-4%
-10%
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data.
1350
69 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community ProfileBelow B.A. Above B.A. $47
$50
All Jobs Green Jobs
Median Hourly Wage of Green Jobs by Educational Attainment in Richmond (2021) $23
$27
All Jobs Green Jobs
Green Jobs pay higher wages than the overall economy irrespective of the educational attainment, but especially in jobs not requiring a B.A., where Green Jobs pay 17% more.

Green Jobs requiring a B.A. or above pay 85% more than ones that don’t require a B.A.

GREEN JOB WAGES
+85%
+17%
+6%
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data.
1351
70 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile GREEN JOBS | WAGES
Key Takeaways
The average Green Job in Richmond pays $36 per hour, 24% higher than the average local job.

Green Jobs that require Green Skills tend to pay 41% more than Supporting Green Jobs, which are jobs in Green Industries that don’t require Green Skills.

For jobs that don’t require a college degree, Green Jobs pay a 17% premium ($4 more per hour).

Green jobs that require a college degree pay on average 85% more than those that don’t—a lower education premium for Green Jobs than for jobs overall. 1 2
3 4
1352
71 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile

GREEN JOB DEMOGRAPHICS
RICHMOND’S
1353
72 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Green Jobs are racially representative of Contra Costa County’s overall economy but not of its population. Among Green Jobs, Green Supporting Jobs are more diverse than Green Skill Jobs. Similarly, green industries are more diverse than non-green industries.

GREEN JOB DEMOGRAPHICS | RACE & ETHNICITY
28%
31%
27%
32%
28%
27%
27%
5%
14%
5%
13%
7%
7%
9%
14%
11%
15%
11%
14%
16%
19%
4%
4%
4%
4%
4%
4%
4%
48%
40%
49%
40%
47%
45%
41%
Green Skill Jobs
Green Supporting Jobs
Non-Green Industries
Green Industries
All Green Jobs
All Jobs
Contra Costa County
Racial Representation, by Category (2021)
Hispanic Black Asian Other White
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data. Demographic data for jobs is not available for Richmond so all job demographics are based on Richmond job data and Contra Costa county demographic data. 1354
73 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Within Green Jobs, Production, Construction, and Transportation and Other Services occupations are more diverse than Office, Management, and Operations and Technical services occupations.

GREEN JOB DEMOGRAPHICS | RACE & ETHNICITY
42%
13%
22%
37%
28%
27%
47%
7%
4%
5%
10%
7%
7%
16%
11%
26%
16%
7%
14%
16%
17%
4%
4%
4%
4%
4%
4%
5%
37%
53%
53%
42%
47%
45%
15%
Other Services and
Professions
Technical Services
Office, Management, and
Operations
Production, Construction,
Transportation
All Green Jobs
All Jobs
Richmond's Population
Racial Representation, by Category (2021)
Hispanic Black Asian Other White
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data. Demographic data for jobs is not available for Richmond so all job demographics are based on Richmond job data and Contra Costa county demographic data. 1355
74 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Within Green Jobs, Black and Hispanic workers experience a wage gap of $14.1K compared to their white counterparts. This gap has increased by $0.8K since 2010, but relative wage gap is decreasing due to slightly faster increase in wages for Black and Hispanic workers.

GREEN JOB DEMOGRAPHICS | RACE & ETHNICITY
$66,000 $65,100
$86,800
$74,600
$79,200
Hispanic Black Asian Other White
Green Jobs Average Annual Earnings by Race in Richmond (2021) +37% +34%+39%+42%+37%
$14.1K (22%)

PAY GAP
$61,100
All Jobs
+34%
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data. Demographic data for jobs is not available for Richmond so all job demographics are based on Richmond job data and Contra Costa county demographic data. 1356
75 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile When compared to the overall economy, non-white worker representation in Green Jobs is slightly lower in all occupation groups except Other Services and Professions.

GREEN JOB DEMOGRAPHICS | RACE & ETHNICITY
58%
47% 47%
63%62%
49% 51%
58%
Production, Construction,
and Transportation
Office, Management, and
Operations
Technical Services Other Services and
Professions
Non-White Representation by Occupational Groups in Richmond (2021) Green Jobs All Jobs
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data. Demographic data for jobs is not available for Richmond so all job demographics are based on Richmond job data and Contra Costa county demographic data. 1357
76 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Green jobs are predominantly filled by male workers. Among job types, Green Skill Jobs have the lowest female representation. Similarly, non-green industries have lower female representation that green industries.

GREEN JOB DEMOGRAPHICS | GENDER
51% 50%
31% 29%
39%
35%
30%
Richmond's
Population
All Jobs All Green Jobs Green Skill Jobs Green
Supporting Jobs
Green
Industries
Non-Green
Industries
Female Representation, by Category (2021)
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data. Demographic data for jobs is not available for Richmond so all job demographics are based on Richmond job data and Contra Costa county demographic data. 1358
77 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Female representation is slightly better in Production, Construction, Transportation occupations compared to the entire economy. Otherwise, all occupation groups have lower female representation than Richmond’s overall economy.

GREEN JOB DEMOGRAPHICS | GENDER
17%
43%
31%
43%
14%
54%
34%
58%
Production, Construction,
and Transportation
Office, Management, and
Operations
Technical Services Other Services and
Professions
Female Representation by Occupational Groups in Richmond (2021) Green Jobs All Jobs
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data. Demographic data for jobs is not available for Richmond so all job demographics are based on Richmond job data and Contra Costa county demographic data. 1359
78 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Over the last decade, the pay gap between male and female workers has decreased by about $2.4K. The average wage of women in Green Jobs are increasing at a faster rate compared to their male counterparts and the overall economy.

GREEN JOB DEMOGRAPHICS | GENDER
$51,500
$72,600
$57,900
$76,600
2010 2021
Green Jobs Average Annual Earnings by Gender in Richmond Females Males
$45,500
All Jobs
$61,100
All Jobs
+34%
$6.4K (12%)

PAY GAP
$4K (6%)

PAY GAP
+32%+41%
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data. Demographic data for jobs is not available for Richmond so all job demographics are based on Richmond job data and Contra Costa county demographic data. 1360
79 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Workers in Green Jobs largely resemble the age distribution of all jobs in Richmond, with slightly more 35- to 64-year-olds in Green Jobs than total jobs.

GREEN JOB DEMOGRAPHICS | AGE
1%
5%
18%
23% 23%
21%
10%
2%
7%
18%
21% 21%
19%
11%
14-18 19-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+
Age Representation in Richmond, by Category (2021)
Green Jobs All Jobs
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data. Demographic data for jobs is not available for Richmond so all job demographics are based on Richmond job data and Contra Costa county demographic data. 1361
80 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile On average, Green Jobs in Richmond require more education than other jobs.

GREEN JOB DEMOGRAPHICS | EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENT
57%
72%
61%
55%
90% 89%
72%
Contra Costa
County's
Population
All Jobs All Green Jobs Green Skill Jobs Green
Supporting Jobs
Green
Industries
Non-Green
Industries
Education Attainment below B.A., by Category (2021)
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data. Demographic data for jobs is not available for Richmond so all job demographics are based on Richmond job data and Contra Costa county demographic data. 1362
81 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Three-quarters of Green Jobs are entry-level positions, slightly fewer than the overall economy. 90% of Green Supporting Jobs do not require any previous work experience.

GREEN JOB DEMOGRAPHICS | EXPERIENCE
75% 72%
90%
83%
All Green Jobs Green Skill Jobs Green Supporting Jobs All Jobs Percent of Jobs in Richmond that are Entry-level, by Category (2021) Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data. Demographic data for jobs is not available for Richmond so all job demographics are based on Richmond job data and Contra Costa county demographic data. 1363
82 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile 17%31%40% 12%
Key Takeaways
1 The racial and ethnic breakdown of Green Jobs is similar to that of the overall worker population in Contra Costa County.
2 Green industries tend to be more diverse than non-green industries, with significantly higher representation of Black and Hispanic workers, though slightly lower Asian representation. 3 Although wages in Green Jobs rose faster for non-white workers from 2010 to 2021 than for white workers, Black and Hispanic workers still earn $14,100 less per year than white workers. 4 Half of Richmond’s workforce is female, but less than one-third of its Green Jobs are women. 5 Among Green Jobs, there is a $4,000 pay gap between men and women, though it was almost

1.5 times as large in 2010.

GREEN JOBS | DEMOGRAPHICS
1364
83 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile

GREEN JOB TRENDS
RICHMOND’S
1365
84 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Green Jobs make up a greater share of jobs in Richmond than in the County and the MSA.

However, between 2010-2019, Green Job growth in Richmond lagged the overall job growth, while in the County and the MSA, Green Jobs grew almost at par with overall jobs.

GREEN JOBS | COMPARATIVE GROWTH TRENDS
18%
20%
28%
11%
17%
29%
Richmond Contra Costa County San Francisco MSA
Jobs Growth, by Region (2010-2019)
All Jobs Green Jobs

1.8% CAGR

1.2% CAGR

2.8% CAGR

1.8% CAGR

2.0% CAGR

2.8% CAGR4.5%

3.2% 3.1%
Richmond Contra Costa
County
San Francisco
MSA
Share of Green Jobs in Entire
Workforce, by Region (2021)
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data.
1366
85 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Green Jobs in Office, Management, and Operations have been the fastest growing, experiencing growth even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Production, Construction, and Transportation Green Jobs were most severely affected during the pandemic.

GREEN JOB TRENDS
578 696 713
938
973 894
421
460 445
230
277 255
2010 2019 2021
Richmond Green Jobs Growth by Occupation Group (2010-2021) Office, Management, and Operations Production, Construction, and Transportation Technical Services Other Services and Professions 2,167 Jobs
2,406 Jobs 2,308 Jobs
+47, 2.1% CAGR
+34, 0.4% CAGR
-23, -4.2% CAGR
-78, -4.1% CAGR
+119, 2.1% CAGR
+39, 1.0% CAGR
+17, 1.2% CAGR
-14, -1.6% CAGR
+239

1.2% CAGR
-98
-2.1% CAGR
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data.
1367
86 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile +0%
0 +2%
0 +18%
1 +22%
1 +31%
2 +22%
3 +83%
6 +4%
6 +26%
7 +4%
8 +15%
9 +18%
18 +13%
28 +27%
38 +45%
47 +50%
119
Change in Green Jobs by Occupation in Richmond (2010 - 2021) -22%
-110
-13%
-16
-13%
-15
-12%
-14
-47%
-13
-1%
0 -1%
0 Management occupations are the fastest growing in terms of Green Jobs, followed by Business occupations. At the same time, Green Jobs in Transportation and Material Moving have declined by the greatest number in the past decade.

GREEN JOB TRENDS
17%31%40% 12%
Source: HR&A’s analysis of Lightcast data.
1368
87 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Key Takeaways
1 In Richmond, Green Jobs grew at 1.2% per year from 2010 through 2019, a growth rate 50% slower than that of jobs overall.
2 In that period, green Office, Management, and Operations jobs grew faster than jobs in other occupations, comprising almost 50% of local Green Job growth. 3 Between 2019-2021, Green Jobs in Richmond showed less resilience compared to the County and the MSA. In Richmond, Green Jobs dipped by a sightly larger share compared to all jobs.

GREEN JOBS | TRENDS
1369
88 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile

GREEN JOB BUDGET ANALYSIS
RICHMOND’S
1370
89 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile MUNICIPAL BUDGET ANALYSIS | OPERATING BUDGET
For FY22-23, Richmond’s total operating budget is just over $438M. This analysis focuses on the General Fund, which makes up nearly half of the operating budget, as General Fund spending is relatively flexible compared to funds for specific uses.

Source: Richmond Adopted Annual Budget FY2022-23Source: Richmond Adopted Annual Budget FY2022-23 Within city budgets, the General Fund is a key
source of discretionary funding. With $207M
total, the City staff and City Council can make
requests for how the funds are allocated year
over year.

For instance, in FY22-23, the City Council
allocated over $1.5M in funds to the following
programs: Housing First Framework ($425K),
founding the Public Bank East Bay ($750K),
Reparations, Equity, and Inclusion
Implementation ($250K), a Literacy Fair ($5K),
and Short-Term Emergency Housing
Interventions ($100K).

Most other revenue sources are allocated
more strictly. The total Non-General Fund
budget totals nearly $232M and “includes
funds dedicated to several programs and
services that require tracking of expenditures
in specific funds”, for instance, debt service
and enterprise funds.

General Fund
$207M
Enterprise
$71M
Special Revenue
$40M
Capital
Improvement
$37M
Other Operations
$27M
Internal Service
$25M
Debt Service
$22M
Housing
$5M Richmond Housing
Authority, $5M
City of Richmond Total Revenue by Fund (FY22-23)
1371
90 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile General fund revenues come from a mix of local taxes, with property, utility, and sales and use taxes each comprising about 25% of total revenue. The utility tax rate is high compared to peers’, which could incentivize conservation but also burden lower-income taxpayers.

Source: Richmond Adopted Annual Budget FY2022-23
Sales and Use Tax,
$55.3M
Utility Users Tax,
$50.0M
Property Taxes,
$46.1M
Other Taxes, $21.6M
Operating Transfers
In, $16.6M
Licenses, Permits,
and Fees, $11.1M
Charges for Services,
$3.6M
Other General Fund
Sources, $2.4M
Wages and Salaries,
$78.8M
Payroll/Fringe Benefit,
$66.9M
Professional and
Administrative
Services, $17.0M
Cost Pool, $15.3M
Operating Transfers
Out, $11.9M
Other Operating,
$8.7M
Utilities, $5.4M
Other Expenditures,
$2.7M
Revenue Expenditures
Within a balanced general fund budget, the
City of Richmond’s revenue sources are fairly
typical of California cities, with the majority of
revenue coming from Sales and Use Tax
receipts and Property Tax receipts.

However, the City of Richmond’s Utility Users
Tax rate is much higher than other cities in
California. The City of Richmond taxes at 10%
on electricity and gas, 9% on
telecommunications, and 9.5% on prepaid
wireless (typically, utility user tax falls in the
4% to 6% range).

Revenue from utilities is a significant part of
the City budget, showing a connection to
Green Jobs in Richmond.

MUNICIPAL BUDGET ANALYSIS | OPERATING BUDGET
1372
91 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Over 70% of General Fund expenses go to staff wages, salaries, and benefits. Of interest to the Green-Blue New Deal, the City spends $5.4 million on utilities, most of which is for electricity.

Source: Richmond Adopted Annual Budget FY2022-23
Sales and Use Tax,
$55.3M
Utility Users Tax,
$50.0M
Property Taxes,
$46.1M
Other Taxes, $21.6M
Operating Transfers
In, $16.6M
Licenses, Permits,
and Fees, $11.1M
Charges for Services,
$3.6M
Other General Fund
Sources, $2.4M
Wages and Salaries,
$78.8M
Payroll/Fringe Benefit,
$66.9M
Professional and
Administrative
Services, $17.0M
Cost Pool, $15.3M
Operating Transfers
Out, $11.9M
Other Operating,
$8.7M Utilities, $5.4M
Other Expenditures,
$2.7M
Revenue Expenditures
City spending on utilities is primarily in green
sectors like electricity and water, as opposed
to non-renewable sources like gas and fuel. By
increasing the electrification of City assets, it
can continue to drive down spending on non-
renewable energy. This may support Green
Jobs in construction and retrofits,
maintenance and upkeep, and even
monitoring and administration.

Note: The utility spending budget at right totals
$8.1M, as it includes non-general fund sources.

MUNICIPAL BUDGET ANALYSIS | OPERATING BUDGET
Source: Richmond Open Finance
$3.9M
$1.6M
$1.2M
$556K
$416K
$257K
$245K
$10K
Electricity & Power
Water
Telephone & Telegraph
Gas & Fuel Heat
Refuse Service
Utilities Expenditure Sum
Sewer Service Expenses
WIFI-Internet/Cable
Utility Spending (2023)
1373
92 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Public Works, $26.6M
Wastewater
$794K
Economic
Development, $5.2M
Transportation
$1.8M
Public Works, $3.1M
Wastewater, $36.3M
Port, $1.3M
Equipment Services,
$6.0M
Capital Improvement Project Budget Other Sources
FY22-23 Capital Improvement Projects by Source
The FY22-23 operating budget includes $37 million in capital expenditures; beyond the operating budget, an additional $49M is allocated in capital improvements, bringing the total allocation to $85M.

Source: Richmond Adopted CIP Budget FY2022-23
This analysis additionally includes an overview
of relevant Capital Improvement Projects (CIP),
both for the current fiscal year (as shown at
right) and in future projections. In
departments or divisions related to Green
Jobs, CIP investments show opportunities to
support job growth in Richmond.

CIP funds come from a series of different
revenue sources. Those included in the annual
operating budget include Gas Tax, Measure J,
Outside Grants, Impact Fees, and others.

Additional funding, including revenue from the
Enterprise Fund, Marina, Wastewater, ARPA,
and other, are noted separately at right.

Departments with spending relevant to Green
Jobs are highlighted in green and blue. As seen
at right, the vast majority of the funds in the
upcoming year will go towards various Public
Works projects, described in further detail on
the following pages. Green Jobs opportunities
may also readily available in Transportation,
the Port, and Economic Development.
$37M
$49M
MUNICIPAL BUDGET ANALYSIS | CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS Note: This excludes $7,315,055 for Port Operations, $23,212,632 for Wastewater Operations, $1,155,168 for KCRT operations, $9,486,735 for ECIA Operations, $123,842 for Urban Forestry, $950,000 for Other Operations, and $293,593 for Marina Operations. These are not capital line items, though they are included in the Capital Improvement Projects section within the CIP. 1374
93 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile The Public Works Department maintains much of the City’s infrastructure, including its roads and building, thus advancing the City’s climate goals and supporting Green Job creation.

The Department of Public Works contains
many Divisions responsible for various
aspects of City assets: Abatement, Parks and
Landscape Maintenance, Engineering and
Capital Improvement Projects, and Fleet
Maintenance.

Within the upcoming CIP, planned
improvements to green infrastructure,
including parks and trails, help support
environmental resilience. Other traffic
improvements, including the 13th Street
Complete Street project, help create and
improve walking and biking infrastructure.

Source: Richmond Adopted CIP Budget FY2022-23
Fiscal Year 2021-22 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 2026-27 Five Year
TotalAdopted Actual Adopted Proposed
13th Street Complete Street $1.4M $0.1M $0.8M $3M $3.8M American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)
Improvements* $2M $0M $1.8M $0.9M
Street Paving $5.3M $2.4M $4.9M $4.8M $4.9M $4.9M $5M $24.5M Traffic Safety Improvements $11.9M $4.8M $4.2M $260K $260K $260K $260K $5.3M Greenway Improvements $0.4M $0.1M $0.1M $0.1M
Building Improvements $1.1M $0.1M $1M $1M
Park Improvements $11.7M $0.8M $9.9M $9.9M
SF Bay Trail Improvements $1.1M $10K $1M $1M
Other $11M $1.9M $5.9M $1M $1M $1M $1M $11M
Total $46M $10.2M $29.7M* $9M $6.2M $6.2M $6.3M $57.5M
MUNICIPAL BUDGET ANALYSIS | CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS Note: Rows above are summed categorizations of similar project types. * ARPA-funded projects are included in “Other Sources” in prior slide. 1375
94 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile The Water Resources Recovery Division is planning nearly $48.1M in public improvement projects, which can support Green Jobs in environmental compliance and water safety.

The Water Resource Recovery Division, within
the Public Works Department, is responsible
for the city’s sewer collection system and
wastewater treatment. The Division is a
heavily resourced division due to the need for
frequent upkeep and replacement of assets
like sewers and sanitation. Most projects in
the Division are compulsory and help the City
avoid sanitary sewer overflows.

Green Jobs can both help keep water systems
safe and improve the efficiency of operations.

For instance, one improvement at the
Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) is the
installation of a unit to reuse the digester gas
and provide power for the Wastewater
Treatment Plant, thus reducing energy
consumption.

Water Resource Recovery can increasingly use
“green infrastructure” or more ecologically
conscious techniques as well. At Rheem Creek
Watershed, the Flood Risk Reduction project is
designed to use environmental restoration to
stabilize the channel and improve creek
habitat.

Source: Richmond Adopted CIP Budget FY2022-23
MUNICIPAL BUDGET ANALYSIS | CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS Fiscal Year 2021-22 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 2026-27 Five Year
TotalAdopted Actual Adopted Proposed
Wastewater Treatment Plant
(WWTP) Upgrades $43.2M $12.9M $25.7M $25.7M
Routine Sewer Maintenance $6.2M $2.1M $4.1M $2.8M $2.8M $2.8M $2.8M $15.1M Sewer Capacity Improvements $14.6M $3.9M $5.2M $5.2M
Flood Risk Reduction Rheem
Creek Watershed $1.6M $1.6M
Other $1.6M $515K $515K
Total $65.7M $18.81M $37.1M $2.75M $2.75M $2.75M $2.75M $48.1M Note: Rows above are summed categorizations of similar project types. 1376
95 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Planned improvements at the Port, including berth electrification, show areas for Green Jobs in both installation and maintenance of electrification infrastructure.

At the Port, major improvements are planned
for the Point Potrero Marine Terminal (PPMT)
in order to meet updated state requirements.

Over the upcoming fiscal year, $1.2M will be
spent on upgrades and improvements. Most
significantly, $750K will be used to “install
shore power system consistent with the
requirements of the California Air Resources
Board. This project will install electrical
substation, conduits, conductors, and plug-in
equipment at the PPMT berth.”
However, no planned investments in
electrification maintenance are noted for
upcoming fiscal years. Green Jobs will likely be
needed for operation and maintenance of
these electrical systems, including monitoring
and updating the equipment.

Source: Richmond Adopted CIP Budget FY2022-23
MUNICIPAL BUDGET ANALYSIS | CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS Fiscal Year 2021-22 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 2026-27 Five Year
TotalAdopted Actual Adopted Proposed
PPMT Berth Electrification $750K $750K
PPMT Repairs and General
Upgrades $151K $44K $400K $400K
PPMT Environmental
Compliance $100K $100K
PPMT Electrical Upgrades $50K $35K
Terminal 2 Improvements $504K $4K
Other $139K
Total $844K $82K $1.25M $1.25M
Note: Rows above are summed categorizations of similar project types. 1377
96 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Outside grants given to the Transportation Department advance Green Jobs through programs in shared mobility and citywide electric vehicle readiness.

All CIP funding for the Transportation
Department fall under FY22-23 and were
provided by outside grants. For instance, the
California Energy Commission’s (CEC’s) Clean
Transportation Program released funds for
“projects developed and identified in Phase I,
Blueprint Development, of the Electric Vehicle
(EV) Ready Communities Challenge.”
Outside funds can continue to supplement
Green Jobs, particularly in sectors that are
aligned with state and federal priorities like
transportation electrification. Many grant
funds require some match of local funding; as
additional projects seek grant funding, the City
should consider holding or proposing funds
for matching grants.

Source: Richmond Adopted CIP Budget FY2022-23
FY2022-23 Adopted
Bike Share Program (Staff Time) $52,000
CEC Phase II EV Ready Communities Phase 2 $554,949
MTC Nystrom Village Hub $261,646
On Demand Shuttle $900,000
Total $1,768,595
MUNICIPAL BUDGET ANALYSIS | CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS 1378
97 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile In addition to the budgeted projects in the five-year CIP, there are $242M in unfunded CIP requests. $193M are proposed to be allocated in the next five years; the remaining $48M do not yet have a fiscal years assigned and are primarily in the Public Works Department.

Source: Richmond Adopted CIP Budget FY2022-23
Adopted
FY2022-23
Proposed
FY2023-24
Proposed
FY2024-25
Proposed
FY2025-26
Proposed
FY202627
Fiscal Year
Not Yet
Assigned
Total
Police Department $2M $78M $80M
Public Works Department $4M $13M $15M $1M $43M $75M
Library Department $1M $3M $24M $24M $1M $52M
Fire Department $1M $16M $1M $17M
Information Technology
Department $3M $2M $2M $1M $8M
Community Services
Department
City Attorney Department $1M $1M $0M $1M $3M
Employment & Training
Department $0M $300K
Total $14M $113M $41M $26M $48M $242M
Over the next five years, additional projects
with opportunities to invest in Green Jobs may
come from capital projects that are currently
unfunded but with proposed allocation dates.

In the Public Works Department, unfunded
requests include upgrades to HVAC, lighting
systems, roofs and repairs, and other facility
improvements that can help make Richmond’s
buildings more environmentally sustainable.

Funds requested in the Library Department
and Community Services Department
represent similar opportunities – by improving
the energy efficiency of Richmond’s assets, the
City can create Green Jobs in heating and
cooling system repairs while also improving its
internal carbon efficiency.

Capital Unfunded Request FY2022/23 to FY2026/27
MUNICIPAL BUDGET ANALYSIS | UNFUNDED CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS Note: Rows above are summed categorizations of similar project types.1379 98 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Key Takeaways
1 The City Council has flexibility to set spending priorities within the $207M General Fund and could set aside some funds to support Green Job development in Richmond. 2 4

MUNICIPAL BUDGET ANALYSIS
Richmond has planned significant infrastructure investments for the next five years, many of which support environmental resilience and create Green Jobs in both construction and operation of those projects. For example:
• Improving efficiency of city-owned buildings
• Maintaining clean water infrastructure
• Expanding ecological restoration and “green infrastructure” projects like parks and trails • Electrifying the Port
• Installing necessary equipment for electric vehicles
City Departments could place greater emphasis on encouraging capital improvement project leaders to seek and secure funds for green projects.
3 Many other capital improvement projects remain unfunded, including park and open space restorations, updating the heating and cooling system at libraries, adding lighting to the auditorium stage, and other facility improvements that could achieve environmental benefits. 1380
99 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile

ADDITIONAL

METHODOLOGICAL
NOTES
03 99 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile 1381
100 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile

GREEN ECONOMY
Definitions of the green economy and Green Jobs vary across institutions, but all share a focus on environmental sustainability.

Example Green Economy Definitions
State of California EDD:California’s Green Economy
Generating and storing renewable energy; recycling existing materials; energy efficient product manufacturing; education, compliance, and awareness; natural and sustainable product manufacturing.

United Nations
A green economy is defined as low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive. In a green economy, growth in employment and income are driven by public and private investment into such economic activities, infrastructure and assets that allow reduced carbon emissions and pollution, enhanced energy and resource efficiency, and prevention of the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Example Green Job Definition
Bureau of Labor Statistics​
Green Jobs are jobs in businesses that produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources.

Or
Jobs in which workers’ duties involve making their establishment’s production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources
1382
101 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Broad Definitions
European Commission
All economic activities related to oceans, seas and coasts. It covers a wide range of interlinked established and emerging sectors. United Nations.

The Center for the Blue Economy
It is now a widely used term around the world with three related but distinct meanings—the overall contribution of the oceans to economies, the need to address the environmental and ecological sustainability of the oceans, and the ocean economy as a growth opportunity for both developed and developing countries.

Sustainability-related Definitions
World Bank
The Blue Economy is the economy that depends on the use of oceans and other water resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystems.

City of Richmond Resolution 88-21
Blue Economy is not synonymous with all economic activity that occurs on coastlines and shorelines or any use of water resources, nor simply technological innovation involving water-based industries. The Blue Economy represents a narrower band of economic activity that is restorative to ocean and shoreline ecosystems and promotes broad- based economic opportunity including “blue jobs”
Blue economy definitions refer to any economic activities that are water/ocean-dependent or to a subset of those activities that are environmentally sustainable or restorative.

BLUE ECONOMY
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102 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile For this Green-Blue New Deal study, the green-blue economy includes the entire green economy, with a special focus on the subset that is water-dependent or “green-blue”.

GREEN-BLUE ECONOMY
Blue Economy
Any activity that depends
on water (e.g., fisheries,
goods shipping, offshore
drilling).

Green Economy
Activities that contribute to
preserving or enhancing the
natural environment for
current and future
generations
Industries that
depend on
water but are
not sustainable
Industries included in
this Green-Blue New
Deal study
Water-dependent activities
that also preserve or enhance
the natural environment
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103 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Green jobs are both jobs at green businesses and sustainability-focused jobs in non- green industries.

CATEGORIZATION
Businesses
Classified by
Industry
Workers
Classified by
Occupation
Business establishments
are grouped into
industries based on the
goods and services they
produce and the methods
used to produce them.

Workers are grouped into
occupations based on job
duties and skills.

North American
Industry Classification
System (NAICS)
Standard
Occupational
Classification (SOC)
System

CLASSIFICATION
SYSTEM

EXAMPLESGROUPINGS
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104 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile HR&A reviewed top precedents and data sources related to the quantification of Green Jobs.

Study Dataset
Green Goods
and Services
(GGS)
U.S. Energy &
Employment
Jobs Report
(USEER)
Green and
Growing: New
York's
Sustainable
Economy
Green Jobs Now Quarterly
Census of
Employment
and Wages
(QCEW)
Jobs Postings
Publisher Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS)
U.S. Department of
Energy
New York State
Comptroller
Working Nation
(ongoing)
Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS),
compiled by
Lightcast
Lightcast, by
scraping 45,000
websites worldwide
Focus Revenue and
employment driven
by green goods and
services
Energy sector jobs Green jobs in New
York state
Creating a holistic
Green Jobs
definition
Employment
numbers and
trends
Job postings
mentioning
particular skills
Strength Most comprehensive
survey to date on
green economy
Comprehensive
energy sector
accounting on
industry level
Specificity in Green
Occupations by
using O*NET SOC
Exhaustive
comparison of
different studies
and their estimates
Most
comprehensive
employment data
with ZIP level
granularity
Machine learning
based
categorization of
Green Skills
Limitation Discontinued after
2011
Limited to energy
sector
Makes problematic
assumptions about
distribution of sub-
occupations
Ongoing effort;
industries and
occupations lack
granularity
No specific
categorization for
Green Jobs
Limited insight on
current jobs;
proprietary data
and skill coding
methodology

PRECEDENTS & DATASETS
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105 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Drawing on available datasets, we developed a methodology to deliver actionable results for the Richmond's workforce development plan, with a focus on Green Skills.

Green Industries
Non-Green Industries
Green
Skill Jobs
Green
Supporting Jobs
Green
Skill Jobs
Non-Green Jobs
(excluded)
Total Green Jobs
Top Occupation:

Recyclable Material Collectors
Top Occupation:

General and Operations Managers
Top Occupation:

School Bus Drivers

METHODOLOGY OVERVIEW
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106 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile Lightcast (formerly EMSI) identifies over 30,000 skills sought by employers, of which over 100 are considered “green.”
Lightcast Green Skill Category Example Green Skills
Conservation Marine Conservation, Conservation Biology, Wildlife Conservation Education Ecology, Environmental Education, Sustainable Development Energy Efficiency Certified Energy Manager, Corporate Sustainability, Green Building Environment Health And Safety Air Quality, ISO 1400 Series, Environmental Tests, Regulatory Environmental Laws, Environmental Impact Assessments Renewable Energy NABCEP Certified Energy Practitioner, Solar Energy, Wind Farming Science Climate Variability And Change, Environmental Chemistry Technical Environment Management, Geotechnical Engineering Waste Recycling, Waste Management, Materials Recovery

METHODOLOGY OVERVIEW
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107 | HR&A AdvisorsRichmond Green-Blue New Deal Community Profile

METHODOLOGY OVERVIEW
This study uses the best available data on jobs and job postings in Richmond to estimate the number of Green Jobs and characterize worker demographics. *HR&A is relying on Lightcast (formerly EMSI), a third-party labor data aggregation firm, to gather the share of job postings in various industries with green skills as a share of total jobs postings over the last 3-5 years. Lightcast has a Green Skills category established through benchmarking popular studies on green jobs, which can be modified if needed to suit our definitions.

Total Estimated
Green Skill Jobs
in Richmond
Occupations and Worker
Demographics
Green Skills and
Occupational Groups
Job Postings with Green
Skills in Richmond
Total Job Postings in
Richmond
Major Companies
Total Jobs in
Richmond, by
Occupation
(Lightcast
Estimate)
Green Skill Requirement
Percentage, by Occupation

1. Using historic job postings on
Lightcast1, first determine the
percentage of jobs in each
occupation that require Green Skills.

2. Pro-rate each occupation’s share of
Green Skill Jobs by applying the
green skill requirement percentage
to the total number of jobs in that
occupation.

Total Green
Supporting Jobs
in Richmond

1. Using Lightcast1, calculate total jobs
in green industries, based on a
national Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS) survey on the percent of each
industry’s revenue derived from
green activities.

2. Subtract the Green Skill Jobs in green
industries previously calculated to
estimate the number of jobs that are
in green industries but do not
require Green Skills.

GREEN SUPPORTING JOBS

GREEN SKILL JOBS
Total Jobs in
Green Industries
in Richmond
(Lightcast
Estimate)
Total Green Skill Jobs in
Green Industries in
Richmond

3. Categorize Green Skill Jobs and
Green Supporting Jobs to enable
more nuanced analysis along
dimensions including skills,
occupation groups, major
companies, and demographics.
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Implementation Plan
Richmond Green-Blue New Deal

June 2024

Prepared by:

1390

Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 RGNBD Methodology ................................................................................................. 1 Champion or Project Manager’s Role ...................................................................... 1 Capacity Building ......................................................................................................... 2 Funding Options .......................................................................................................... 4 24 Project Profiles: First Few Steps and Case Studies ........................................... 5

1. Solar emergency microgrids at critical community facilities .......................... 6

2. Battery manufacturing .......................................................................................... 9

3. Offshore wind turbine part manufacturing ..................................................... 11

4. Building electrification and energy efficiency ................................................. 14

5. Green accessory dwelling units and tiny homes ............................................ 17

6. Community land trust ......................................................................................... 21

7. Destination downtown........................................................................................ 22

8. Transportation management association ....................................................... 24

9. Transition to zero-emission vehicles ................................................................ 26

10. Building deconstruction firms .......................................................................... 29

11. Building salvage warehouse ............................................................................. 30

12. Remakery and fixery .......................................................................................... 32

13. Re-entry entrepreneurs ..................................................................................... 33

14. Surplus food rescue ........................................................................................... 36

15. Expanding the tree canopy ............................................................................... 39

16. Living levee .......................................................................................................... 40

17. Brownfields research & innovation hub ......................................................... 43

18. Blue tech incubator and accelerator ............................................................... 45

19. Port upgrades, including electrification .......................................................... 47

20. Berthing vessels at the port .............................................................................. 49 1391

21. Boat building ....................................................................................................... 50

22. Boat maintenance and repair ........................................................................... 52

23. Shoreline ecotourism ......................................................................................... 54

24. Green hydrogen .................................................................................................. 56

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1 Implementation Plan

Introduction
How do we implement projects outlined in the Richmond Green-Blue New Deal (RGBND) Opportunities Report? Where do we start? This depends on how large or small the project is, and how far along implementation already is. Some projects are up and running. Additional funding would enable them to hire more workers.

Other projects are at the conceptual stage and need help moving to the starting line.

Based on which projects the Richmond community is interested in pursuing, this implementation plan provides details about the first few steps that will accelerate each project. This plan includes one or two case studies for each project that offers inspiration and insights. Richmond can then tailor the project based on the community’s needs, skills, and assets.

RGNBD Methodology
For green-blue projects that are at the concept stage, having a champion to define all six elements in the RGBND methodology will be helpful.

1. What is the scope of the project?

2. Does true demand for the green good or service exist?

3. Where will funding come from?

4. Who will the project manager be?

5. Who are the workers?

6. What training do they need to upskill?
Champion or Project Manager’s Role
A champion is involved in a project’s early stages. They have limited involvement but express support early on and advocate for the project. By contrast, a project manager has deeper involvement, digging in and starting to gather the pieces needed to move the project forward. Defining the scope, checking to see that real 1393
2 demand exists, and identifying funding sources are key elements early on in project development.

Capacity Building
Current City of Richmond staff do not need to do all the preparation work to move green-blue jobs projects to the starting line. Hiring additional staff or contractors to complement the City’s existing economic development capacity would enable more job creation. Funding for capacity building could come from foundations and government agencies.

Figure 1 organizes the 24 RGBND projects by size and identifies the number of capacity building staff (fte’s or full-time equivalents) needed to move each project to the starting line. Four fte’s for two years would be able to accomplish a large amount of preparatory work.

Figure 1: 24 RGBND projects – organized by size
Project Description
Project
Size
Number
of Jobs
Capacity
building
(fte’s)
Port upgrades
including
electrification
Clean up pollution, rebuild wharfs to handle
heavier loads, electrify Large
100–
1,000

0.5 Offshore wind
turbine
manufacturing
Build parts for offshore wind development
projects in California and elsewhere Large
100–
1,000

0.5 Boat building
Manufacture boats which could range from
smaller electric tugboats to larger 500' offshore
wind turbine installation vessels Large
100–
1,000

0.2 Battery
manufacturing
Attract more battery manufacturers to
Richmond Large
100–
1,000

0.2 Green hydrogen
Manufacture hydrogen for difficult to
decarbonize industries; if safety concerns and
renewable energy sources addressed and if the
community approves Large
100–
1,000

0 Solar emergency
microgrids
Develop requests for proposals; design, permit,
and install microgrids Medium 10–100

0.2 Building
electrification
retrofits
Retrofit older homes (pre-1940 then pre-1978)
for insulation, electric water heating and electric
HVAC (heat pumps) Medium 10–100

0.5 1394
3 Project Description
Project
Size
Number
of Jobs
Capacity
building
(fte’s)
Green accessory
dwelling units and
tiny homes
Build factory to host workforce development
training and build housing units in Richmond Medium 10–100

0.1 Destination
downtown
Invest in streetscape of a commercial area,
support cohort of entrepreneurs for new
restaurants, cafes, shared micro-manufacturing
and micro-retail Medium 10–100

0.1 Transition to zero-
emission vehicles
Install and maintain electric vehicle charging
infrastructure; maintain electric vans, fleet
vehicles, buses, commercial trucks, and big rigs Medium 10-100

0.2 Building
deconstruction
firms
Dismantle old buildings and sort salvaged
materials by type for donation or sale Medium 10–100

0.1 Building salvage
warehouse
Accept donated materials such as wooden
doors, windows, furniture, kitchen cabinets, art
and hardware then sells them to keep valuable
materials out of the landfill Medium 10–100

0.1 Expanding the
tree canopy Grow seedlings into trees; urban planting Medium 10-100

0 Living levee
Construct levee and plant native plants to
manage storm surge waters Medium 10–100

0.1 Brownfields
research &
innovation hub
Conduct research on soil cleanup technologies
and showcase relative effectiveness of each Medium 10–100

0.2 Community land
trust
Develop contracts for shared ownership to build
wealth in the community Small 1-10

0 Transportation
management
association
Provide information and incentives to encourage
residents and workers to commute by mass
transit and active mobility modes Small 1-10

0.1 Richmond
remakery and
fixery
Combine tool lending library, maker space,
workshop, fixit clinic, after school enrichment
classes, and summer camps Small 1-10

0.25 Re-entry
entrepreneurs
Offer members of the re-entry population
business plan and woodworking classes to
encourage starting businesses such as building
furniture from salvaged materials Small 1-10

0.25 Surplus food
rescue
Pick up surplus food from events, caterers,
grocery stores, and other large generators then
deliver to non-profits serving people
experiencing food insecurity Small 1-10

0.1 1395
4 Project Description
Project
Size
Number
of Jobs
Capacity
building
(fte’s)
Blue tech
incubator and
accelerator
Help aspiring entrepreneurs incubate and
accelerate their blue tech ideas Small 1-10

0.2 Berthing vessels at
the port Host large vessels at the port for a fee Small 1-10

0 Training center for
boat maintenance
and repair Train the next generation of boat mechanics Small 1-10

0 Shoreline
ecotourism
Offer the public opportunities for recreation,
education, and tours of local plants and animals Small 1-10

0.1 Funding Options
Funding is key to unlocking jobs. Where to look for funding will depend on whether a project offers a return on investment, needs to be fully subsidized, or a combination. For projects with a proven business model, the private financial sector can help scale with investment funding, whereas projects that provide social and environmental benefits may need to be partially or fully subsidized. Figure 2 identifies what type of funding is the best match for each project.

Figure 2: Public or private funding source
Public funding -
Needs to be fully
subsidized
Combination Private funding - Offers
return on investment
Public funding or grants Grants then private
funding to scale up
Private sector investment
Building electrification
and energy efficiency
Accessory dwelling units
and tiny homes
Solar emergency microgrids
for critical community facilities
Transition to zero-
emission vehicles
Community land trust Battery manufacturing
Remakery and fixery Destination downtown Offshore wind manufacturing Re-entry entrepreneurs Transportation
management association
Building deconstruction firms
Surplus food rescue Blue tech incubator and
accelerator
Building salvage warehouse
Expanding the tree
canopy
Port upgrade Boat building
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5 Public funding -
Needs to be fully
subsidized
Combination Private funding - Offers
return on investment
Living levee Training center for boat
maintenance and repair
Green hydrogen
Brownfields research &
innovation hub

Berthing vessels
Shoreline ecotourism

At a high level, for projects providing social and/or environmental benefits, public agency grants are a good place to start. Grants.gov and grants.ca.gov allow grant seekers to search their databases by topic and agency. The non-profit Center for Public Enterprise works with local governments to identify and apply for Inflation Reduction Act and other public funding.

For private sector projects with a financial return on investment, the State of California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (Go-Biz) works at a high level to put together a package of incentives, grants and financing to attract businesses to a city. In addition, generous rebates are in place for renewable energy projects and building electrification/energy efficiency retrofits for low- income households. There are programs such as fidelity bonding for hard-to-place candidates (provides up to $5,000 of protection against losses for the first six months of employment), and opportunity tax credits for businesses that hire previously incarcerated individuals no later than one year after conviction or release from prison, which is designed to help boost hiring. Details about relevant financial tools are provided in each of the following “how to” project profiles. 24 Project Profiles: First Few Steps and Case Studies
For each of the 24 recommended projects, the following provides a short description of the project, the champion or project manager, funding, first steps, and a case study or two where this type of project has already been implemented.

Note that early stage projects list a champion (or organization) whereas more established projects with funding list a project manager.

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6 Figure 3: Recommended projects for green-blue job creation in Richmond Sector Recommended Projects
Renewable Energy Solar emergency microgrids (SEMs) at critical community facilities
Battery manufacturing
Offshore wind turbine manufacturing
Building
Electrification and
Energy Efficiency
Building electrification retrofits
Green accessory dwelling units and tiny homes
Community land trust
Sustainable
Transportation
Destination downtown
Transportation management association
Transition to zero-emission vehicles
Zero Waste Building deconstruction firms
Building salvage warehouse
Richmond remakery and fixery
Re-entry entrepreneurs
Surplus food rescue
Green Infrastructure
and Urban Forestry
Expanding the tree canopy
Living levee
Land Use Brownfields research & innovation hub
Water Blue tech incubator and accelerator
Port upgrades including electrification
Berthing vessels at the port
Boat building
Training center for boat maintenance and repair
Shoreline ecotourism
Other Green hydrogen

The following projects have been chosen to be a strong match for the Richmond community’s interests, skills, talents, and assets.

1. Solar emergency microgrids at critical community facilities Having clean local backup power at critical community facilities (police stations, fire stations, wastewater treatment plants, K-12 schools, and healthcare facilities) in the event of a natural disaster or public safety power shutoff (PSPS) would allow these facilities to be able to continue to serve the community. As demand for microgrids grow, Richmond electrical contracting firms could develop an expertise in this area. 1398
7 Scope: Develop expertise in Requests for Proposal (RFPs), design, permitting and installation of solar emergency microgrids with solar photovoltaics, batteries for energy storage, and monitoring, communications and controls.

Champion: to be decided
Funding:
• California Energy Commission
o GFO-23-317 - Energy Storage Innovations to Support Grid Reliability (proposal due Aug 9, 2024)
o GFO-23-315 - Clean, Dispatchable Generation – part of the Energy Program Investment Charge (EPIC) program (proposal due Sept 13, 2024)
• California Public Utilities Commission – Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP)
• California State Treasurer’s Office
o Clean Energy Bond Financing
o Property Assessed Clean Energy Loss Reserve Program
• Utility - Marin Clean Energy
• Private investment – project finance, commercial bank loans First steps:

1. Read articles about microgrids online at microgridknowledge.com, utilitydive.com, and cleancoalition.org to learn terms, trends, challenges, and players.

2. Take a six-week class on solar microgrid methodology to understand fundamental principles, strategies, and tools to develop a Solar Microgrid Feasibility Study, analyze electricity data, model solar systems, size Battery Energy Storage Systems, and conduct economic analyses.

3. Attend microgrid conferences and/or attend webinars about microgrids to meet people who have expertise writing RFPs, designing, permitting, or installing systems.

4. Develop Request for Proposals (RFPs) for fire and police station microgrids – modeled on City of Fremont’s fire station microgrids and Santa Barbara Unified School District’s microgrids RFPs
1399
8 5. Identify funding - Talk to project finance businesses and explore California Energy Commission EPIC funding sources
Case Study - Solar emergency microgrids – Fremont, CA
Three fire stations (#6, #7, and #11) in Fremont have been equipped with solar photovoltaic (PV) carports and large battery systems to increase their energy resiliency and bolster their capacity to operate during power outages. This combination of solar panels and batteries allows each station to generate and store its own energy with the ability to separate or “island” from the grid in case of an emergency. City staff are able to monitor generation and usage via cloud-based energy management software.

Figure 4: Fremont Fire Station #6 microgrid

Source: City of Fremont
The project is a public-private partnership between the City of Fremont, the Fremont-based clean technology firm Gridscape Solutions (Gridscape), and the California Energy Commission (CEC). Each station is equipped with 95 kWh of energy storage and a 40 kW solar canopy. The project is expected to save the City a 1400
9 combined quarter million dollars in energy costs over the next decade while decreasing the municipal greenhouse gas footprint by 80,000 pounds of CO2 per year, which is equivalent to 36 MTCO2e.

Fire station microgrids provide multiple benefits to the City and community:
reducing energy demand on the grid through the use of storage technology, protecting critical facilities against power outages, supporting local innovation and entrepreneurship, increasing community resilience, saving money, and reducing carbon emissions.

Figure 5: Fremont Fire Station #6 microgrid system

Source: City of Fremont

2. Battery manufacturing
State environmental policies have set goals to reach 100% renewable energy on the electricity grid by 2045 as well as the electrification of the transportation system.

Stationary batteries are key to be able to add increasing amounts of wind and solar electricity, and mobile batteries will be needed as we electrify cars, light trucks, medium- and heavy-duty trucks, fleet vehicles, locomotives, and boats. Richmond has valuable assets that will be attractive to battery manufacturers such as 1401
10 industrially-zoned land, freight lines, highways, and a port to move materials and products in and out.

Scope: Building on existing battery manufacturing operations in Richmond, attract stationary and mobile battery manufacturing operations to Richmond Champion: Economic Development Department, City of Richmond Funding:
• Federal government – U.S. Department of Energy
• State government – California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GoBiz) can help bundle offers of incentives, grants, and financing; the California Industrial Development Financing Advisory Commission approves the issuance of industrial development bonds • California State Treasurer’s Office – Sales Tax Exclusion for Manufacturers • Private investment – Battery manufacturing companies will raise capital from private funding sources
First steps:

1. Read articles online about energy storage and batteries at energy- storage.news, utilitydive.com, cleantechnica.com, insideclimatenews.org, electrek.co, and the U.S. Department of Energy to learn terms, trends, challenges, and players.

2. Attend energy storage conferences and webinars to meet companies.

3. Invite battery manufacturers to tour Richmond.

Case study: Battery manufacturing, Tucson, AZ
In 2023, American Battery Factory broke ground south of Tucson, Arizona, on the first phase of a 2 million square-foot “gigafactory” to produce lithium iron- phosphate battery cells. The project will attract $1.2 billion in capital investment and create jobs for 300 workers initially and then a total of 1,000 new jobs at full buildout. Construction is expected to be completed in 2025.

Utah-based battery pack maker Lion Energy is the parent company of American Battery Factory which will feature a battery research center as well as advanced manufacturing technology that leverages machine learning and artificial- 1402
11 intelligence technology. The gigafactory is expected to generate $3.1 billion in economic impact to the state over 10 years.

3. Offshore wind turbine part manufacturing
The State of California is actively planning for 5 gigawatts of offshore wind development by 2030 and 25 gigawatts by 2045 off the coasts of Humboldt and Morro Bay. The California Energy Commission is looking to spread economic development opportunities for offshore wind development to port cities throughout the state. Richmond has assets that make a strong case for manufacturing of wind turbine parts. Which parts those should be will be determined after giving tours to the five offshore wind developers and Tier 1 supplier Crowley.

Figure 6: Turbine blade manufacturing in France

Photo credit: Baptiste Almodovar
Scope: For offshore wind development off the coast of Humboldt and Morro Bay, many different wind turbine parts will be needed: blades, towers, nacelles, floating 1403
12 platforms, floating platform assemblies, substations, mooring rope, mooring chain, anchors, array cables, export cables, and others. Manufacturing and storage of parts could happen at the Port of Richmond or nearby. But first, the Port’s wharfs would need to be updated and reinforced to be able to handle heavier loads.

Champions: Economic Development Department and Port of Richmond, City of Richmond
Funding:
• Federal government – U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration - Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) grants, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
• State government – California Energy Commission, California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GoBiz) can help bundle offers of incentives, grants, and financing
• Private investment – Tier 2 supply chain manufacturers will secure private funding for capital expenses and operating expenses for offshore wind turbine manufacturing
First steps:

1. Read about offshore wind power at nawindpower.com (North American Wind Power), windpowermonthly.com, windmillstech.com, offshorewind.biz, and electrek.co to learn terms, trends, challenges, and players.

2. Attend a few offshore wind conferences to meet wind developers, Tier 1 supplier Crowley, and other businesses. Offer tours of Richmond.

3. Identify state and federal funding sources then create RFPs to find consultants for three studies: strategic plan for offshore wind turbine manufacturing in Richmond, a port assessment, and a port plan. a. Strategic Plan ($50,000) - to determine the best match between Richmond’s assets and strengths, and the offshore wind developers’ and Tier 1 supplier’s needs.
b. Port Assessment ($100,000) – this would include two parts: a summary of port facilities to identify the sites within the Port, their use, tenant agreements, existing infrastructure, etc.; and an Engineering 1404
13 Inspection and Assessment to determine the condition of Port facilities and costs to repair, retrofit, and upgrade.
c. Port Plan ($350,000) – this would include two parts as well: a Port Master Plan identifies land use planning including long-range goals and policies for land use and development (ex., Port of Long Beach Master Plan); and a Redevelopment Plan specific to a terminal or site and details about improvements required to position the site for the type of use.
d. Project management for/at City ($80,000)
Case Study – Offshore wind development near Martha’s Vineyard, MA Vineyard Wind 1 is an offshore wind turbine farm under construction 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. In October 2023, the first of 62 massive 13 megawatt wind turbines that are 700’ tall and have 321’ long turbine blades, headed out to sea for installation.

Figure 7: New Bedford ship carrying offshore wind parts

Source: Peter Pereira
1405
14 The New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal along the southern coast of Massachusetts provides staging areas for wind turbine parts. While the US is developing manufacturing capacity for OSW turbine components, many parts need to be imported from established manufacturers in Europe that have decades of experience.

The types of jobs created initially were development and design jobs, followed by construction jobs. Construction of the wind farm is expected to take 2-3 years at which point there will be operations and maintenance jobs for decades. Foss Martime, which also has operations at the Port of Richmond, CA, designed and built specialized U.S. flagged barges to transport components out to the Vinyard Wind 1 offshore construction area: two 400’ barges that can handle 1,700 ton loads including upright wind turbine components.

To date, 400 union members have worked on the project – on shore and on vessels.

The first arrival of wind turbine parts brought temporary work for 300 laborers to unload plus 12 longshoremen jobs. Project Labor Agreements were signed with local unions.

Electricity from the first turbines started feeding into the grid in January 2024. When completed, the offshore wind farm will generate 800 megawatts, enough electricity for 400,000 homes and businesses.

4. Building electrification and energy efficiency
In Richmond, 11% of homes were built in 1939 or earlier. Seventy percent of homes were built in 1979 or earlier, before California’s energy efficiency standards were authored. Opportunities abound to help low income households upgrade their interior heating and water heating systems, which are dominated by natural gas use and which consume more than half of a home’s energy. Upgrades for electrification and energy efficiency would improve indoor air quality, increase the value of the homes, and prepare homes to be able to plug in an electric vehicle at some point.

Scope: Scoping a building electrification pilot program will involve deciding on the number of households to be served, where to set the household income threshold (for example, 80% or 120% of the area median income) for pilot participation, what 1406
15 equipment will be installed or systems upgraded (heat pumps for space heating, cooling, and ventilation; heat pumps for water heating; insulation; electrical panel replacement; and/or add electric vehicle charging ability); and if the project will be zero upfront cost to the homeowner and not result in a higher monthly utility bill.

Project manager: local community-based organization or consultant with expertise in building electrification
Funding:
• Federal grants
o U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Green and Resilient Retrofit Program
• State grants
o California Department of Community Services & Development Programs –Low-Income Weatherization Program, Community Services Block Grants
o California Economic Development Department – California Jobs First funds the Bay Area Jobs First program (Asian Pacific Environmental Network is administering)
o California Public Utilities Commission – Energy Savings Assistance Program (no cost weatherization for low income households), Self- Generation Incentive Program (SGIP), and TECH Clean California o California State Treasurer’s Office – California Hub for Energy Efficiency Financing (CHEEF) Pilot Programs, Property Assessed Clean Energy Loss Reserve Program, Working Group on Energy Efficiency Financing Programs
• Regional assistance
o BayREN Home+ and Bay Area Multifamily Building Enhancement rebates
o Contra Costa Employment & Human Services Department/Community Services Bureau - Energy bill assistance and weatherization services to low-income residents of Contra Costa County
o Marin Clean Energy (MCE) received $158 million from the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) to help fund low- and no-cost electric upgrades for low- and middle-income households.
1407
16 First steps:

1. Read studies on the California Energy Commission and California Public Utilities Commission websites about building electrification and energy efficiency

2. Check with City of Berkeley to learn the latest about how their residential building electrification pilot is coming along

3. Establish a working group with MCE, local CBOs, unions, and local electricians to scope the pilot project

4. Confirm funding is available from MCE, TECH Clean California, the Energy Savings Assistance Program, and other possible sources

5. Work with a local community-based organization (Roots of Success, Groundwork Richmond, and Urban Tilth) to survey homeowners and ask questions to determine level of interest in the pilot program if there is no cost up front and the utility bill stays at the same level Case study - Pilot program for residential building electrification retrofits, Berkeley, CA In 2022, the Berkeley City Council directed the Office of Energy and Sustainable Development (OESD) to establish a two-year $1.5-million pilot program to retrofit existing low-income residences with all-electric equipment.

Berkeley’s program of direct-install and incentives is intended to help households making less than 120% of the area median income. Direct-install programs eliminate the need for households to find and manage their own contractors. The programs also equitably eliminate or reduce the amount of upfront money needed by property owners to conduct retrofits, and the programs eliminate the need to wait for rebates or retroactively apply for them. Direct-install programs streamline the permitting process and lower barriers for residents.

To assist new property owners, renters, and existing contractors in the transition to zero-carbon buildings, minimum labor standards are being applied to this program.

In addition, Berkeley has set aside $600,000 for the Climate Equity Action Fund.

Together, the Residential Building Electrification Pilot and Climate Equity Action Fund would facilitate 400–500 retrofits per year.
1408
17 Local partners include East Bay Community Energy, BayREN, Rising Sun Center for Opportunity, CTWI-BTCA, and BlocPower. The State of California provided $1.5 million for the City of Berkeley’s pilot, and the City pitched in $600,000 for the Climate Equity Action Fund from the City’s transfer tax.

The cost to electrify the City’s entire low-rise building stock (36,000 units) would be $700–880 million, with an additional $120 million needed for efficiency improvements and solar. Success with the Berkeley Residential Electrification Pilot could spur the City Council and residents to seed additional federal, state, and local funds to expand the program in subsequent years.

5. Green accessory dwelling units and tiny homes
Rebuilding Together East Bay Network is raising $900,000 to build a factory to train and employ workers to construct accessory dwelling units and tiny homes.

Currently they are building beneath a highway overpass. Having a factory would speed up the manufacturing process.

Twenty local churches
have expressed
interest in hosting
ADUs or tiny homes on
their property to help
serve the unhoused
population.

Richmond’s 2023 Point
in Time Count found
632 unhoused
individuals, up from
280 individuals
counted in 2020.

Scope: Build a factory in Richmond to construct ADUs and tiny homes Project Manager: JW Frye, Rebuilding Together East Bay Network

Figure 8: Constructing tiny homes

Source: bigskillstinyhomes.org
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18 Funding:
• State government – California Department of Housing and Community Development - Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program, California Housing Finance Agency, California State Treasurer’s Office –green bonds and sustainability bonds
• Private funding – commercial bank loans
• Philanthropy
• Crowdfunding
Next steps:

1. Create business plan for a warehouse space for an ADU/tiny homes factory with 1-year and 3-year financial projections. JW Frye at RTEBN estimates a $20,000 cost to put together a business plan.

2. Expand fundraising efforts
a. Create crowdfunding campaign video
b. Create crowdfunding strategy with milestones to seed, grow and reach fundraising goal: friends, family and allies give initial funding; make a push about tax-deductible contributions at the end of the calendar year; secure regional media coverage with a good news story; tie outreach blasts to relevant news items; and then make a final push when close to the fundraising goal.
c. Simultaneously, reach out to philanthropies interested in funding issues involving the unhoused population, housing, and transition- aged youth to discuss a low-interest loan using endowment funds that will be repaid with income from selling or renting out the housing units (Section 8 vouchers will cover rental income for some residents) d. Secure a California Workforce Development Board’s High Road Training Partnership grant for training
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19 Case Study - Community First! Village, Austin, TX
Community First! Village is a community of about 400 residents outside of Austin, Texas, that provides permanent affordable housing for people who are chronically homeless. The organization plans to grow to 2,000 homes across three locations which could permanently house about half of Austin’s chronically homeless population.

Community First offers
200 square foot, one-
room tiny houses
furnished with a
kitchenette, bed, and a
recliner. The homes are
clustered around shared
outdoor kitchens, and
neat rows of recreational
vehicles and
manufactured homes in
cul-de-sacs. Communal
meals and movie
screenings bring
residents together.

The village also has
chicken coops, two
vegetable gardens, a convenience store, art and jewelry studios, a medical clinic, and a chapel. Many residents have jobs here as gardeners, landscapers, custodians, artists, jewelry makers and more.

Funding for the project has come from government and private sources. Travis County allocated $35 million of American Rescue Plan Act funds to build 640 units as part of its expansion. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approved the use of federal housing vouchers to subsidize part or all of low-income resident’s rent which averages about $385/month.

Figure 9: Tiny home community in Austin, Texas

Photo credit: Eli Durst, New York Times
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20 Case Study - Tiny Homes, San Jose, CA
As a city of nearly one million residents, San Jose has an unhoused population of 6,340 people. In 2023, Mayor Matt Mahan declared a shelter crisis and homelessness emergency. The Mayor and San Jose City Council set a goal to create 1,000 new shelters for people who are unhoused. One solution that is helping stabilize people involves communities of tiny homes.

Since 2020, San Jose has built tiny home communities in six of the ten City Council districts with two more communities coming online soon. Tiny homes are residential structures smaller than 400 square feet of floor space. They can be built from scratch or prefabricated in a factory and delivered to the site. Often they are constructed on trailers that allow them to be moved and are arranged around shared kitchens and bathrooms.

People can stay for several months, a length of time that provides valuable stabilization. Occupants don’t have to worry about their safety or where they will sleep at night which makes them more likely to succeed in substance use treatment, obtain medical care or complete job training programs. San Jose has a wait-list of hundreds of unsheltered people willing to move in.

The City worked diligently to overcome obstacles such as finding locations, funding, bypassing red tape to build them quickly, building public trust and obtaining neighborhood buy-in. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan declared a shelter crisis which allowed the city to bypass local codes that would otherwise hamper the speed of construction of interim housing. While neighboring residents often resist tiny home communities, one wealthy district in San Jose recently agreed to a tiny home community in exchange for the city’s promise to clear up a nearby tent-lined creek.

The least expensive “quick build” tiny home units are $65,000 each. Funding came from a mix of state Homekey funding, money from a local ballot measure, and philanthropic donations to quickly open new sites.

Data from the mayor’s office shows that 911 calls for police dropped 15% in areas where tiny homes opened and calls about graffiti and illegal dumping dropped around 40%.
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21 6. Community land trust
A community land trust is a non-profit corporation that holds land on behalf of a place-based community while serving as the long-term steward for the building or community asset. With these shared equity programs, individuals or families purchase a share of the collectively-owned property at a level that makes sense for them. Doing so helps eliminate racial wealth gaps by assisting traditionally underserved minority communities to build a level of home equity. This legal structure can be applied to affordable housing, community gardens, civic buildings, commercial spaces, and other community assets.

Scope: A non-profit would purchase the property on behalf of the community and individuals would purchase a share. For example: picture a 16-bedroom, four- bathroom home in Richmond collectively owned by 16 people in their twenties or thirties who work at local non-profit organizations. Before moving in, the home is upgraded to energy-efficient electrical appliances and water-conserving fixtures, and insulation is installed in the walls, ceiling, floors, and around air ducts. These retrofits add value to the house by lowering utility costs and increasing comfort.

Figure 10: Potential property for limited-equity cooperative housing

Source: 16 bedroom 4 bath house on Zillow.com
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22 Champion: Kyndelle Johnson
Funding: a combination of crowdfunding, philanthropy, and financing along with residents’ equity contributions (buy-in)
First steps:

1. Create a working group of interested community members and community- based organizations (RichmondLAND, Cooperation Richmond) to define the pilot project

2. Engage Sustainable Economies Law Center or Project Equity to develop a shared-equity contract for potential residents

3. Fundraise for the downpayment
Case study: Limited-equity cooperative housing, San Francisco, CA One example of limited-equity cooperative housing involved the conversion of a residential building at 53 Columbus Ave in San Francisco. A local nonprofit saved the building from demolition and then worked with the City of San Francisco to convert it into a limited-equity cooperative.

Units at 53 Columbus Ave sold for $10,000 each, with a $703 monthly charge, for a one-bedroom unit. To qualify for a single-person unit, applicants couldn’t earn more than $26,400 annually. One resident, who earned $18,500 a year as an on-call desk clerk, spent years saving up for the $10,000 purchase price, time the non- profit and City needed to complete paperwork for the building to officially become a co-op. The EARN Starter Savings Program helped him save for the downpayment by providing $2 for every $1 saved. He was able to purchase a unit in the co-op in 2011.

The resident explained “When you have a stable home, you’re able to then focus on other things in your life . . . your job, your career development, your education, saving for retirement, donate to non-profits. You’re able to blossom in other ways.”

7. Destination downtown
Vibrant communities have abundant third spaces, informal public places besides home (first space) and work (second space), where people can socialize, connect, 1414
23 and engage with their communities. Catalyzing a cluster of businesses in one of the Downtown commercial areas of Richmond would provide an appealing destination for residents and visitors, as well as generate income and additional tax revenues.

Scope: Determine a mix of businesses that could be co-located such as restaurants, retail establishments, cultural activities, a worker-owned cooperative grocery store (Cooperation Richmond already has a business plan for one in North Richmond), a micro-manufacturing and micro-retail space for local artisans of jewelry, clothing, housewares, soaps, cosmetics and art are several options to consider.

Champion: Andrea Portillo-Knowles, Richmond Main Street Initiative Funding:
• State government – Caltrans may have future grant programs similar to the Clean California Local Grant Program in the future to beautify streets, roads, pathways, and public spaces.
• Private investment – Renaissance Center can help entrepreneurs find funding such as commercial bank loans and other sources • Crowdfunding
First steps:

1. Conduct a survey to find out what types of restaurants are most in demand among residents.

2. Reach out to local community-based organizations about the project and ask their help to find local artisans, aspiring entrepreneurs, and businesses in other cities that would like to site a new operation in Richmond.

3. Recruit and assemble a cohort to take business classes together at the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center.

Case study: Downtown transformation, Lancaster, CA
In 2010, an eight-month $11.5-million renovation transformed nine blocks of a five- lane street in Lancaster into a tree-lined pedestrian boulevard inspired by Barcelona’s “Las Ramblas” esplanade. The renovation attracted 40 new businesses, such as an underground bowling lounge, a tattoo parlor, and a Mediterranean café, and it boosted the local economy by $280 million, according to the California 1415
24 Redevelopment Association. The “BLVD” increased city tax revenue and property values within two years of completion.

Previously, the area had a five-lane road bordered by concrete buildings. Traffic passed through at 60 mph. In the transformation of the BLVD streetscape, traffic was forced to slow down, as the road now diverges into two lanes under palm trees. Pedestrian-friendly sidewalks attract families and foot traffic for new businesses.

The City commissioned a street team to keep the area trash-free. The team begin cleaning 9 a.m. every weekday and continue until 2:30 p.m.

On one end of the main street, an F-4 Phantom supersonic jet perches on a cement plinth, honoring the Mojave Desert’s aerospace legacy. The area enjoys the new American Heroes Park, built as part of the renovation, as well as the Museum of Art and History, which has blossomed into a cultural hub for the area.

8. Transportation management association
A transportation management association (TMA) is a membership organization formed to provide a forum for employers, developers, building owners, local government representatives, and others. Its constituents collectively establish policies, programs, and services to address local transportation needs and air- quality issues. The funding mechanism, geographic area, membership, mission, and services are tailored to meet the specific needs of the geographic area.

Scope: Many TMAs are non-profits that work to encourage drivers of single- occupancy vehicles to switch to trains (BART and Amtrak), buses (AC Transit), carpooling, shared electric shuttles (RichmondMoves), and active mobility options (bicycling, scootering, walking). A TMA in Richmond would work to inform and incentivize the public to find the mix of public transit and first/last mile active mobility options that work for them.

Champion: at a local non-profit that encourages sustainable transportation in the community
Funding:
• State government
1416
25 o California Department of Housing and Community Development may offer grant programs similar to the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program
o Caltrans – Active Transportation Program
• Regional government – Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), BART, AC Transit • Private investment – commercial and residential developers to meet TDM plan requirements (if City requires transportation demand management [TDM] plans of developers)
First steps:

1. Study other TMAs in the Bay Area to define how to structure Richmond’s TMA a. Is the target audience homeowners in new housing developments, existing residents, and/or workers in certain industry sectors? b. What mix of sustainable transportation options are they promoting? c. How are they funded?

2. Explore a pilot grant from a foundation and on-going grant funding from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and/or BART.

3. Currently the transportation consulting firm Fehr & Peers is studying the formation of a TMA for Richmond. Once the scope of a local TMA is determined and funding identified, the City could contract with an existing local non-profit to run the TMA.

4. Survey residents and workers about interest in free or reduced rate transit passes and bicycling/e-scooter incentives. Many residents and workers interested in lowering their transportation costs may be interested.

5. Attend annual conferences of the national and NorCal regional chapter of the Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT).

1417
26 Figure 11: Commute survey work for a TMA

Source: Palo Alto TMA
Case study: Palo Alto Transportation Management Association, Palo Alto, CA With information and incentives, the non-profit Palo Alto Transportation Management Association encourages workers to leave their car at home and commute by train, bus, carpool, bicycle, electric scooter, or on foot. PATMA provides free train and bus passes to workers making less than $70,000 per year and places $5 a day on a virtual debit card when a worker bicycles to work.

The non-profit supports the City of Palo Alto to realize goals of reducing traffic congestion, demand for parking, and greenhouse gas emissions while supporting local businesses and addressing social equity issues. Funding for PATMA’s mode shift work comes from City of Palo Alto parking permit revenues, business membership fees, and foundation grants.

9. Transition to zero-emission vehicles
While gas- and diesel-powered cars and trucks dominate our transportation system, an increasing variety of zero-emission vehicles such as battery electric vehicles, plug-in electric hybrids, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are becoming 1418
27 available. To meet the state’s goal that by 2035 all new vehicles sold will be plug-in electric or fully electric, now is the time to ramp up installation and maintenance of a network of electric vehicle charging stations as well as train vehicle mechanics to maintain zero-emission vehicles.

Scope: Expand Richmond’s network of electric vehicle charging stations to serve electric cars, light trucks, medium and heavy-duty trucks, fleet vehicles, and buses.

Make sure the charging network is maintained in working order. Train mechanics to fix electric, plug-in electric hybrids, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

Champion: Denee Evans, Transportation Services Project Manager, City of Richmond
Funding:
• Federal government
o U.S. Department of Transportation – Federal Highway Administration – ▪ Promoting Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost- Saving Transportation Program (upcoming)
▪ Federal Transportation Administration 5310 Grant Program (formula funding to support transportation for seniors and people with disabilities)
▪ Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program (closes Aug 28, 2024)
o U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
▪ Clean Heavy Duty Vehicles program (closes July 25)
▪ Clean School Bus program
▪ Environmental and Climate Justice Program grants (closes Nov 1, 2024)
• State government
o California Air Resources Board
▪ Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program ▪ Low Carbon Transportation Investments and Air Quality Improvement Program
o California Department of Housing and Community Development ▪ Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program 1419
28 o California Energy Commission
▪ Clean Transportation Program
▪ Contra Costa Electric Vehicle Readiness Blueprint – work with them to access CEC funding
o California Public Utilities Commission - authorized up to $1 billion in ratepayer funding between 2025-2030 for rebates for behind-the- meter (BTM) electric vehicle charging infrastructure
o California Workforce Development Board - High Road Training Partnership
o Caltrans
▪ Sustainable Transportation Planning Grants
o Strategic Growth Council
• Regional grants
o Bay Area Air Quality Management District
o Contra Costa Transportation Authority - Measure J Sales Tax revenue o Metropolitan Transportation Commission
▪ Regional Active Transportation Program
▪ Innovative Deployments to Enhance Arterials, (Applications due Sept 12, 2024)
▪ Innovative Deployments to Enhance Arterials Shared Automated Vehicles
▪ Lifeline Transportation Program
▪ Local Parking Management Grant Program
▪ Transit Core Capacity Challenge Grants
Next steps:

1. Identify government funding for electric vehicle charging infrastructure

2. Work with IBEW, CWDB High Road Training Partnership, AC Transit, BART, and community colleges on training classes to expand availability

3. Expand charging network on government property, at the BART parking garage, at shopping centers, and at multi-family apartment complexes. 1420
29 Case study: Electric vehicle charging network, Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles ranks number three in the United States for electric vehicle (EV) charging availability with an average of one EV charger for every 724 people. To make charging easier for EV drivers, the city of Los Angeles is planning a new approach: installing EV chargers on light poles on city streets, because the electric infrastructure is already there. Los Angeles has installed 725 light-pole chargers so far and the street light system can support 3,000 or 4,000 more.

When installing chargers to light poles, workers for the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Lighting change fuses or perform structural retrofits. This approach avoids having to change out the entire line or improving the electrical system.

10. Building deconstruction firms
Richmond contains 250 blighted homes that could be renovated and could contain valuable solid-wood materials made from old-growth timber, such as wood framing, flooring, doors, and cabinets. Other items that can be salvaged include hardware, sinks, and bathtubs. Salvaging materials so they can be sold or donated to a non-profit for a tax write-off will prevent them from ending up in a landfill.

Scope: Encourage a few local aspiring entrepreneurs to form a new building deconstruction firm to salvage valuable materials from blighted homes that are torn down or renovated.

Champion: to be decided
Funding: The founders of building deconstruction firms have used personal savings for start-up costs (bootstrapping) or secured a commercial bank loan First steps:

1. City of Richmond could create a building deconstruction ordinance (Portland, OR) and/or salvage ordinance (Berkeley).

2. Learn about three building deconstruction training programs to decide which is the best match for Richmond: Build Reuse, County of San Mateo Deconstruction Training and The Reuse People.
1421
30 3. Tour Green Lynx in Santa Rosa to learn about their building salvage operations.

4. Visit Urban Ore in Berkeley to learn about the most valuable materials salvaged.

5. Tour This ‘N That in San Pablo to coordinate with the manager about how to support each other

6. Find and support aspiring entrepreneurs to create a business plan with one and three-year financial projections; support entrepreneurs to secure funding for workers compensation insurance, tools, a vehicle, and warehouse space to store salvaged materials.

Case study: Building deconstruction – Portland, OR
In 2015, the City of Portland created a voluntary incentive program for demolition projects to encourage deconstruction instead of demolition. Grants from $2,500 to $3,000 were awarded to 25 projects to promote and demonstrate the benefits of deconstruction.

Portland passed its deconstruction ordinance in 2016 and updated it in 2019. The ordinance requires single-family homes built before 1940 to be deconstructed instead of demolished and specifies that the work must be undertaken by a certified deconstruction company.

Since the passage of the ordinance, 17 deconstruction contractors have been certified, with 30 workers going through the Build Reuse training program. These contractors created the equivalent of 20 new jobs directly related to deconstruction with an average wage of $15 to $17 (in 2017 dollars).

11. Building salvage warehouse
Older buildings contain valuable materials that could be salvaged for a new use: old growth wood framing, solid wood doors, cabinets, windows and hardware. After buildings are deconstructed and organized by materials, the salvaged materials need a place to be stored where potential buyers can see and purchase them.

Scope: Having a warehouse in Richmond that accepts salvaged building materials could help jumpstart building renovations in Richmond.
1422
31 Champion: Workers at Urban Ore who live in Richmond have expressed interest.

Funding:
• State government – CalRecycle - Greenhouse Gas Reduction Loan Program • Contra Costa County Solid Waste & Recycling - Recycling Market Development Zone low-interest loan
• Private investment – Commercial bank loan
First steps:

1. Tour Urban Ore in Berkeley and make connections

2. Take Renaissance Entrepreneur Center classes in business plans and funding

3. Create a business plan with one and three-year financial projections Case study: Building salvage warehouse – Urban Ore, Berkeley, CA Residents, contractors, and businesses drop off salvaged building materials and household items for resale at Urban Ore’s 3.5-acre site in Berkeley. Co-founder Dan Knapp describes Urban Ore’s business this way: “We are in the space business and let [an item] sit here until the right person comes along and buys it.” This for-profit business has 42 employees and realizes $3.5 million sales per year while diverting 800 tons of doors, windows, lumber, cabinets, furniture, hardware, lighting, art, and other materials from landfills each year. They pay $120,000 per year in property taxes and $30,000 in sales tax each month while providing profit sharing to their employees.

The highest-value items they receive and sell are doors, furniture, hardware (door hardware, tools), and artwork. While many people who drop off items donate them, Urban Ore also offers trade credit. If someone drops off two solid wood doors, they receive credit at a certain value, which they can redeem later.

In support of waste diversion, the City of Berkeley authored a contract for salvage operations at the City’s Transfer Station, allowing Urban Ore to station a staff member at the transfer station and divert loads that could be salvaged and sold.

The $114,576 contract ran from 2020 to 2023.
1423
32 On their home page, Urban Ore challenges consumers with the inquiry: “If you are not for Zero Waste, how much waste are you for?”

12. Remakery and fixery
Richmond Main Street Initiative reports that community members have expressed interest in having more coffee shops and restaurants in Richmond. A Remakery and Fixery provides an inviting space centered around a café in which children and adults can learn to use tools, develop skills, be creative, and borrow tools in support of a zero waste future.

Scope: Decide which activities will be included in the project: café serving food and drinks, Maker space for afterschool enrichment and summer camps, tool lending library, Fixit Clinic, a workspace, classes to learn skills such as woodworking, pottery, sewing, welding, and power tool safety. Is there a local organization with space to host or would rent need to be paid each month? Champion: Catalin Kaser
Funding:
• Federal government – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency • State government - CalRecycle
• Local government
o RecycleMore (interested in funding a Fixit Clinic)
o Contra Costa Recycling Market Development Zone – low-interest loans o City donation of space
o West Contra Costa Unified School District – for afterschool enrichment and summer camps
• Corporate and private foundations
• Republic Services grants
• St Vincent de Paul or Goodwill
• Crowdfunding
First steps:

1. Business plan with one and three-year financial projections 1424
33 2. Reach out through community-based organizations to find other people interested in being involved

3. Find a space

4. Secure funding
Case Study: Le REcyclerie – Paris, France
Located in a former train station situated over abandoned train tracks, this renovated space filled with artistically arranged salvaged materials encourages visitors to live more sustainably. With a repair and recycling mindset, the REcyclerie offers:
• a café that serves food and drinks
• a tool lending library
• classes in the workshop
• a free Fixit-style clinic for repairing small appliances and learning repair skills • community activities in the organic garden
Figure 12: Interior photos of Le REcyclerie

A major funder of the organization is water, energy, and waste utility Veolia Environment S.A.

13. Re-entry entrepreneurs
Participants in the RGBND Safe Return Project workshop expressed interest in green jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities. Formerly incarcerated people need stable jobs to support themselves and their families, but many have difficulty 1425
34 finding work. A program to encourage entrepreneur-minded members of the justice-involved community to develop skills and opportunities could help some to become leaders and job creators in their community and achieve financial independence.

In combination with projects to deconstruct and salvage building materials, justice- involved entrepreneurs could develop complementary businesses. For example, older buildings contain valuable old-growth timber. Entrepreneurs could remove nails and staples from valuable salvaged lumber and sell it for new structural uses, or use it to build furniture.

Scope: Borrowing inspiration from the Refoundry project in Los Angeles and Brooklyn, aspiring entrepreneurs who have taken business plan and woodworking classes could start businesses using salvaged lumber to build new furniture. Or re- entry entrepreneurs could work with regional startup Urban Machine to remove nails from salvaged lumber and sell it.

Champion: ask staff at RichmondBUILD, Safe Return Project, Re-entry Success, and Rubicon for recommendations
Funding:
• State government
o California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation o California Workforce Development Board’s High Road Training Partnership
• Philanthropy – corporate and family foundations
First steps:

1. Reach out to local non-profits that work with members of the re-entry population to find a champion

2. Interview staff at Refoundry in Los Angeles and Brooklyn to hear lessons learned and for advice about replicating their work in Richmond

3. Scope the project with RichmondBUILD and Renaissance Center

4. Clarify funding opportunities for the project
1426
35 Case study: Refoundry – South Los Angeles, CA, and Brooklyn, NY Refoundry trains formerly incarcerated people to build furniture with recycled materials and mentors them on their business and career paths. The curriculum includes skill development in the areas of high-level crafts, the internet, finance and business, resume-building, and interviews. Refoundry also offers apprenticeships, business coaching, and mental health and addiction treatment referrals as needed.

Figure 13: Example of furniture made by Refoundry entrepreneur

Source: Refoundry
Refoundry’s mission is to provide justice-involved people with the skills and opportunity to achieve financial independence and become leaders and job creators in their communities. To date, Refoundry entrepreneurs have started 10 businesses in craft industries using wood, metal, and upholstery, and employ over 125 people from their home communities.

The Brooklyn Refoundry location offers a free 20-week woodworking and entrepreneurship program. Participants are taught the foundations of woodworking, financial literacy, and business planning while earning a weekly $400 1427
36 stipend. The Maker Training Program is selective and includes a rigorous application process with a preliminary math assessment. Requirements include:
• Must be over 25 years of age
• Minimum of six months of sobriety prior to first interview • Reliable housing with family, homeless shelter, transitional residence, or own apartment/home
• Fundamental knowledge of eighth-grade level math
• Demonstrated interest in woodworking
Program funders include Brooklyn Community Foundation, JPMorgan Chase & Co., REDF, Robin Hood, Starbucks Foundation, First Republic Bank, Wells Fargo, Yerba Buena Fund, Awesome Without Borders, Porticus, Archelis and Bodman Foundation, Janey Fund Charitable Trust, Dorsey & Whitney LLP, the Boston Foundation, PGS Millwork Inc., Simon’s Foundation, and L4 Foundation.

14. Surplus food rescue
With SB 1383, CalRecycle set a goal to have 20% of edible food diverted to feed people in California starting in 2025. At the same time, businesses in Contra Costa County throw away over 80,000 tons of food per year while one in five Californians do not have a reliable source of healthy, nutritious food. Large generators such as supermarkets, grocery stores, food service providers (institutional, governmental, commercial, or industrial), food distributors, and wholesale food vendors; as well as hotels, large venues, event caterers (events >800 people), and schools may have surplus food that they would prefer to donate instead of throw away.

Scope: Define the types of large food generators that surplus food rescue operations would like to focus on initially as well as project equipment needs such as a refrigerated truck, and a local non-profit in a position to take the lead. The meaningful work of picking up surplus food and delivering it to feed people could be done by transition-aged youth and members of the re-entry community that have a driver’s license.

Champion: ask RecycleMore, White Pony Express, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano, and/or local churches

1428
37 Funding:
• State government
o Legislative appropriations
o CalRecycle
• Local government
o RecycleMore
o Government contracts
• Other grants – ReFed Catalytic Grant Fund
• Philanthropy
• Large food generators – fee-for-service work
Next steps:

1. Survey large food generators to determine how much surplus food they have to donate (set pick-up minimums), what types of food items, if they already have a contract for surplus food donation, and, if not, how often they would like pickups.

2. Create business plan and financial projections

3. Secure funding for refrigerated truck and labor
Case study: Rescuing surplus prepared food – RePlate, San Francisco, CA When Salesforce, Dropbox, and AirBNB are left with at least ten trays of surplus catered food from events or employee lunches, they log onto RePlate’s app and order a pick-up. They know that RePlate, a non-profit, will quickly dispatch a driver to collect the surplus prepared food and deliver it to an organization in the area that serves people who are homeless or food insecure.

RePlate helps companies track the impact of their food donations, and this data is used by clients for Corporate Social Responsibility reports. Through RePlate’s app, they can learn about the number of meals they donated, pounds of food redirected, gallons of water saved, and amount of greenhouse gases prevented from entering the atmosphere, all based on data reported by pick-up drivers.

For this reverse-catering service, RePlate charges a fee per pick-up. Companies that pay for this service feel the fee is a small price for the benefits they receive: prompt pick-ups and enhanced employee engagement, an issue with which many 1429
38 companies struggle. It turns out that donating excess food to people who need it is a good way to boost employee pride in their organization.

When RePlate started out, they thought companies would value the financial benefits, such as a tax credit, from donating food to a non-profit or the avoided cost of disposal from not throwing away food. The factor that actually motivated people most to pay for pick-ups, though, was that it was the right thing to do.

Case study: Job training in food recovery – Food Shift Kitchen, Alameda, CA “We need to shift the perspective of food recovery from charity to it being viewed as a valuable service,” said Dana Frasz, former Executive Director of the Food Shift Kitchen in Oakland, California. One service Food Shift provides to businesses with a large throughput of food is finding ways to divert edible food from landfill to non- profits or compost streams.

The savings can be sizeable. After working with Food Shift, grocery store Andronico’s saved $27,000 per year by avoiding garbage disposal and compost pick-up costs, as well as earned tax deductions for donations and saved on regulatory compliance costs. A further benefit at Andronico’s was that 87% of their employees reported that the food-donation program increased their sense of pride and joy in their workplace.

Frasz is pushing for companies with excess food to pay for the service. She explained that for every few thousand dollars Food Shift collects for food recovery efforts each month, they can create one full-time job at the Food Shift Kitchen for someone trying to become self-sufficient. “Why not chip in to make that possible?” asks Frasz.

The Food Shift Kitchen at the Alameda Point Collective is doing more than just picking up surplus food: they are also training people for culinary careers. Alameda Point Collective helps people who are homeless and struggling to get back on their feet with job training. The majority of people at Alameda Point Collective either have a disability, are survivors of domestic violence, or are veterans. Only 10%–15% are employed.

In service of helping this population of enthusiastic potential workers who want to pull themselves up economically, the Food Shift Kitchen offers six-month 1430
39 apprenticeships, during which apprentices receive on-the-job training for culinary employment while earning minimum wage. Such food preparation and catering work at the Food Shift Kitchen provides a bridge to the workforce. After the apprenticeship, people graduate to kitchen assistant or driver, which pays close to $20 per hour. This kind of work allows people to develop skills that will help them lift themselves out of poverty.

15. Expanding the tree canopy
During the RGBND community survey, respondents requested more trees throughout the city and small businesses along the 23rd Street commercial district requested more shade trees for their streetscape. While Richmond already has a vast canopy of 22,000 trees, there is room for more. A field survey for Richmond’s Urban Greening Master Plan determined space is available for an additional 13,000 trees within the public right of way. Additional native trees species could be grown to 5 gallon and 15 gallon sizes using locally-sourced seeds.

Scope: Tree planting activities that Groundwork Richmond leads provide meaningful work and job experience for transition-aged youth. Groundwork Richmond has expressed interest in finding space in Richmond for a tree nursery that would grow tree seedlings into larger street trees, which they and other non- profits would plant throughout the city.

Project Manager: Lorena Castillo, Groundwork Richmond
Funding:
• State government – CalFire grants
• Regional government – East Bay Regional Park District, government contracts • Philanthropic grants
• Commercial bank loan for tree nursery
Next steps:

1. Hold a coordination and planning meeting with Groundwork Richmond, Pogo Park, Richmond Trees, Trust for Public Land, Yes Nature to Neighborhoods, and the Watershed Project to decide which organization would like to take the lead
1431
40 2. Create a business plan for a tree nursery

3. Determine government and philanthropic grants to apply for Case study: Commonwealth Nursery – LA Conservation Corps, Los Angeles, CA Located on an 11-acre historic site in iconic Griffith Park, the Commonwealth Nursery is an urban ecological laboratory for growing trees from locally sourced seeds and a training ground to nurture the next generation of urban forest stewards. Together the partners are building a multi-disciplinary program with the goals of strengthening climate resilience, meeting the City’s tree canopy equity goals, creating a more livable city for all Angelenos, and building pathways to the green jobs of the future.

LA Conservation Corps staff and Corpsmembers manage the nursery and the plant propagation efforts as well as tree distribution to urban greening projects all around Los Angeles. Funding for LA Conservation Corps comes from government contracts (federal, state, regional and local), foundation grants, corporate donations, individual donations, program fees, and special events.

The Commonwealth Nursery in Griffith Park is a public-private partnership between City Plants, LA City Parks, and the LA Conservation Corps with support from the LA Parks Foundation.

16. Living levee
To protect residential communities as well as the West County Wastewater District wastewater treatment plant, Republic Service’s solid waste transfer station and sanitary landfill, Chevron’s oil refinery, the Richmond Parkway, and the railroad from storm surges and rising sea levels, a living levee is being planned and designed. The Watershed Project is working with West County Wastewater and others to secure grants, conduct extensive community engagement, design, permit and construct the first section of the North Richmond Shore Living Levee.

Scope: Building on the Phase 1 work that has already been done (30% design with community engagement and input), secure grant funding for Phase 2 (75% design including more community input), Phase 3 (construction and implementation), and Phase 4 (post-construction monitoring and activation).

Project Manager: Juliana Gonzalez, The Watershed Project 1432
41 Potential funding:
• Federal government – Inflation Reduction Act, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers direct appropriations, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund (congressional appropriation), • State government – California Coastal Conservancy grant (through Association of Bay Area Governments), California Department of Water Resources (Proposition 84 funding), CalOES/FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) grant
• Regional government – Measure AA funding from San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority
• Philanthropy
Next steps:

1. Phase 2 – 75% design including more community engagement

2. Phase 3 – construction and implementation including planting and restoration

3. Phase 4 – Post-construction monitoring and activation Case study: Palo Alto Horizontal Levee Pilot Project, Palo Alto, CA Current levees surrounding Palo Alto are not Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) certified and routinely experience overtopping that threatens City infrastructure, private buildings, and other development east of Highway 101 with flooding.

The City of Palo Alto is collaborating with the San Francisco Estuary Partnership and ESA to design and construct a horizontal levee pilot in the Palo Alto Baylands. The project would utilize highly treated wastewater from the Regional Water Quality Control Plant to irrigate a vegetated ecotone prior to discharge into the San Francisco Bay.

A horizontal levee utilizes a gently sloping, vegetated area that serves as a transition between two different biological communities: tidal wetlands and terrestrial uplands. The slope offers multiple benefits such as absorbing wave energy from storms, adapting to sea level rise, providing habitat, and polishing treated wastewater.
1433
42 Program objectives of the Living Levee include:
• improve and restore habitat along the Harbor Marsh perimeter for native species,
• adapt to sea level rise by providing a transitional slope that will support sediment accretion and accumulation,
• integrate a horizontal levee on the Bayfront of a traditional flood control levee to provide wave attenuation and vegetative protection for the flood control levee core,
• provide polishing treatment to treated wastewater,
• maintain and provide opportunities for compatible low-impact recreation and public engagement with nature, and
• be on the leading edge of integrating habitat enhancement with sea level rise adaptation and novel wastewater treatment approaches around the San Francisco Bay.

Funding for this project is coming from various sources. The California Department of Water Resources has provided a grant through Proposition 84 funding for $1.04M dollars, with East Palo Alto providing over $400,000 in local match. This funding has been instrumental in implementing early studies and work needed for the California Environmental Quality Act process.

The California Coastal Conservancy awarded $500,000 to the Association of Bay Area Governments to prepare 60% designs and permit applications for the Palo Alto Horizontal Levee Pilot Project adjacent to the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant, City of Palo Alto, Santa Clara County.

The City of East Palo Alto has been awarded a $17.5M dollar CalOES/FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) grant. The City of East Palo Alto provided local match required for this grant. The HMGP program provides funding to state, local, tribal and territorial governments so they can build or rebuild in a way that reduces future disaster losses in their communities.
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43 17. Brownfields research & innovation hub
Gaining clarity about the most effective clean up technologies to apply to soil contaminants and the likely end use (industrial, commercial, green space, or residential) for each of Richmond’s 442 brownfield sites would help accelerate clean up. In addition, identifying a project manager to do grant writing and progress report writing that would allow Richmond to access financial and technical resources for clean up would be helpful.

Scope: Plan for and develop a Brownfields Innovation & Research Hub to study which on-site soil remediation clean up technologies are most effective against the soil contaminants commonly present in Richmond.

Champion: to be determined
Funding:
• Federal government
o U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI)
o U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Targeted Brownfields Assessment grant, other brownfield program grants, and
Environmental and Climate Justice Program grants
o Congressional appropriations
• State government
o Department of Toxic Substances Control - Equitable Community Revitalization Grant (ECRG)
o Center for Creative Land Use Recycling
o Ask San Diego State’s Center for Community Energy and Environmental Justice as well as the Center for Creative Land Recycling about other state grants
o State legislature appropriations
o Governor’s office appropriations (after all other options are pursued) 1435
44 First steps:
• Meet separately with managers at UC Berkeley Field Station Environmental, the UC Berkeley Superfund Research Program, Department of Toxic Substances Control, San Diego State’s Center for Community Energy and Environmental Justice, and Center for Creative Land Recycling to discuss ways to accelerate understanding of effective soil contamination remediation technologies and speed clean up of Richmond’s many brownfield sites. • Create a working group for a research & development hub to study and show effectiveness of different technologies.
• Develop a business plan and financial projections.
• Explore funding sources listed above.

Case study: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Hazardous Waste Research Center, Vicksburg, MS
The Hazardous Waste Research Center (HWRC) is part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Environmental Laboratory, founded in 1978 with the purpose of ensuring the Army Corps of Engineers was in compliance with environmental protection laws. Today, the HWRC is a full-service research and development laboratory that provides innovative technology demonstration support and expertise to USACE, all ten U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency regions, Department of Defense installations, and the private sector.

The Hazardous Waste Research Center plays a major role in developing clean technologies for toxic and hazardous waste in military and civilian sites including:

1. Biotechnology treatment for liquids, soils, sludges, and sediments

2. Solvent extraction/flushing

3. On site (in situ) solidification/stabilization

4. Electrokinetics treatment for contaminants in water, soils, and sediments

5. Physical separation/volume reduction
1436
45 6. Advanced chemical oxidation and reduction using UV light, ozone, hydrogen peroxide, peroxene, ultrasonics, and special catalysts (Fenton’s reagent)

7. Synthetic resin ion exchange

8. Sorption studies (activated carbon/activated alumina, specialty resins)

9. Volatile organic thermal treatment

10. Phase transfer technologies

11. Phytoremediation/phytostabilization

12. Contaminant flux modeling

13. Field pilot assessment (industrial base process water, surface water, groundwater treatment systems)
ERDC researchers have been evaluating hazardous and toxic waste for more than 25 years, with more than 500 successfully completed projects. Site selection for a project is highly selective as most technologies developed by the HRWC have been transferred to all military services for the groundwater and oils cleanup at many military sites. HWRC technologies have also been transferred to the EPA and states for Superfund site remediation.

Between FY2008 and FY2022, USACE discretionary appropriations funded through Title I of annual Energy and Water Development appropriations acts have ranged from $4.72 billion in FY2013 to $8.34 billion in FY2022. Congress has also provided USACE with emergency supplemental appropriations.

18. Blue tech incubator and accelerator
Technology incubators and accelerators nurture ambitious entrepreneurs and launch exciting new startups. Tailoring Richmond’s tech accelerator to focus on water-based startup ideas in aquatic agriculture, robotics, environmental restoration, and marine electric-power systems, makes sense in a city with 32 miles of shoreline. The fact that Richmond sits at the crossroads of environmental justice, Just Transition and climate resilience issues could make it an attractive to venture capitalists and angel investors who want to show they are helping address social and environmental issues as well as looking for a favorable return on investment. 1437
46 Scope: Develop and launch a tech incubator and accelerator tailored for Richmond.

Determine which established tech accelerator would be the best fit to mentor Richmond’s blue tech incubator and accelerator.

Champion: ask CoBiz Richmond and Blue Frontier
Funding: foundation funding to develop and launch the incubator and accelerator, then venture capital to invest in selected startups
First steps:
• Read websites of other clean tech and green tech accelerators including UC Berkeley SkyDeck Accelerator, Rainmakers, and Clean Tech Open. • Find others in Richmond interested in this project.
• Write a business plan for a blue tech incubator and accelerator in Richmond. • Reach out to a few tech accelerators to explain what Richmond is planning and ask questions.
• Interview venture capitalists, angel investors, and project finance experts who may be interested in being involved. Share business plan.

Case study: startBlue Accelerator, San Diego, CA
For aspiring entrepreneurs looking to develop new businesses, the ocean provides a new perspective on problems facing society and the space to develop innovative new solutions using technology.

Can we use bio-based, ocean-derived materials to create alternatives to plastic? Can we improve on 2,000 year old anchor technology to be more intelligent and less destructive? How do we harness wave power for carbon-free electricity? How can we monitor fish population growth and health? Are there nutrient-dense foods that can be grown in and harvested from the ocean? How can we apply the Internet of Things (IOT) to stormwater filtration? Can we use 3D printing to restore coral reefs? How do we integrate next-generation robotics, artificial intelligence and computer vision to solve ocean data challenges?
These were all questions the first startBlue group of aspiring entrepreneurs sought to answer in 2021. StartBlue is part of UC San Diego’s StartR accelerator program 1438
47 offered by a partnership between the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Rady School of Management. By combining science and business, startBlue is supporting entrepreneurs to develop new blue-tech solutions that can be integrated into science, industry, investment, and government networks.

The accelerator provides eight training classes in value proposition, customer discovery, product market fit, market sizing, and competitive analysis.

Entrepreneurs develop and hone their pitches and learn about grant writing, as they develop strategies for fundraising for their startup. Each team is matched with a dedicated, experienced mentor to facilitate introductions and provide guidance unique to the team’s goals as they seek to grow relationships with potential customers, investors, and strategic partners.

StartBlue is funded by U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, contributions from California Sea Grant, San Diego Gas & Electric, the Beyster Foundation for Enterprise Development, Ocean Visions, and the Builders Initiative, as well as philanthropic donor matches from the Scripps Director’s Council.

To date, StartBlue has supported 14 ocean-focused startups, 43% female founded, that have raised a collective $8.3 million.

19. Port upgrades, including electrification
Upgrading the Port of Richmond for the 21st century will involve projects such as cleaning up hazardous materials, replacing wharfs to handle heavier loads, and electrifying the port (providing shore power) to enable visiting ships to plug in to the electric grid instead of burning fossil fuels while at port. Having shore power will improve air quality for nearby residents.

Scope: Continue efforts to electrify the Port while starting to assess the condition of the port and estimating the cost to upgrade, as well as developing a port improvement plan.

Project manager: Port of Richmond
Funding:
• Federal government
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48 o U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) grants (through 2026) o U.S. Department of Transportation - Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity, or RAISE Discretionary Grant program
o U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – Clean Ports Program • State government
o State of California Port Infrastructure Upgrade funding (in part from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding)
o California Pollution Control Financing Authority’s Tax-Exempt Bond Financing Program - green bonds
First steps:

Funding would need to be identified for a port assessment, a port plan, and project management.
• Port Assessment ($100,000) – this would include two parts: a Summary of Port Facilities to identify the sites within the Port, their use, tenant agreements, existing infrastructure, etc.; and an Engineering Inspection and Assessment to determine the condition of Port facilities and costs to repair, retrofit, and upgrade.
• Port Plan ($350,000) – this would include two parts as well: a Port Master Plan identifies land use planning including long-range goals and policies for land use and development (ex., Port of Long Beach Master Plan); and a Redevelopment Plan specific to a terminal or site and details about improvements required to position the site for the type of use. • Project management for/at City ($80,000)
Case study: Port upgrade at Brayton Point in Somerset, MA For 50 years, Brayton Point in Somerset, MA, was home to the largest coal-fired power plant in New England, burning 40,000 tons of coal every three days to generate 1,600 MW of electricity for local homes and businesses. In 2019, the coal- fired power plant was torn down and Anbaric Development Partners announced a $650 million investment to create a Renewable Energy Center at Brayton Point. 1440
49 The 306 acre property is being redeveloped to handle bulk cargo, heavy lift cargoes, and building materials for multiple sectors, including offshore wind. The industrial waterfront property contains a 34-ft deep water port capable of berthing large domestic and international merchant vessels up to 64,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT), the measure of how much weight a ship can carry including cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, provisions, passengers, and crew.

In December 2021, Mayflower, which renamed itself SouthCoast Wind Energy, was awarded a 400-megawatt power purchase agreement to develop an offshore wind farm 20 miles south of Nantucket, a tiny island off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. When offshore wind turbines are installed off the coast, the generated electricity will travel via underground cables and connect to the preexisting grid at Brayton Point.

The cables will transfer renewable energy to a converter station and link to a National Grid substation to be delivered to local residents and businesses.

Mayflower anticipates construction costs for the offshore wind connection facility will be $275 million.

In February 2022, Italian manufacturing company Prysmian agreed to buy 47 acres at Brayton Point to build a $250 million subsea cable manufacturing plant and estimates the project will create 300 jobs. The new plant will be dedicated to the production of high-tech submarine interarray and export cables up to 275 kV AC and 525 kV DC to connect offshore wind farms to mainland power grids. The factory is designed to start delivering 270 Km AC 275 kV of finished 3-cores cables per year.

20. Berthing vessels at the port
Scope: According to Richmond’s Working Waterfront, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) is looking for a $3 million per year lay berth arrangement to park ships. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is also searching for berthing space. Richmond could participate in a regional plan the Marine Exchange will set up to market lay berth space.

Champion: Port of Richmond
Funding:
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50 • Federal government – Fee-for-service funding from Maritime Administration (MARAD) or NOAA
First steps:
• Contact Working Waterfront to find out who to contact at NOAA and MARAD • Reach out to NOAA and MARAD to learn about their berthing needs • Offer tours of the Port of Richmond
Case study: Port of Portland, OR
This deep water port contains four marine terminals with six deep-draft ports that host 1,600 ships per year. The four terminals which take up 53 acres, 262 acres, 159 acres, and 419 acres, store and move a variety of products through: grains, forest products, steel, liquid bulks, mineral bulks, autos, steel slab and coil, and other containerized cargo.

Located 100 miles up the Columbia River from the Pacific Ocean, the Port is the third largest auto import gateway in the country and the fifth largest port on the West Coast for export tonnage. Currently the Port of Portland berths NOAA and MARAD ships.

21. Boat building
Globally, demand for boats for offshore wind development (OSW) planned for the next 30 years currently outstrips supply. Existing vessels available, from 60’ crew transfer vessels to 500’ OSW construction vessels, are already booked for the next decade. The mismatch between the specialized Service Operations Vessels (SOVs) needed and offshore wind farm construction schedules, means there is demand for SOV vessel manufacturing sites.

Scope: Boat building is specialized work. The scope of this project involves identifying companies with expertise in this area that are interested in expanding operations.

Champion: Economic Development Department and Port of Richmond, City of Richmond

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51 Funding:
• State government – California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GoBiz) can help bundle offers of incentives, grants, and financing
• Private investment – large boat building manufacturers would secure loans from private financial organizations
First steps:
• Read trade journals to learn about trends and challenges in the industry as well as the names and specialties of U.S., European, and Chinese boat building companies.
• Attend a few conferences and trade shows to meet industry stakeholders and let them know Richmond is interested in economic development. The International WorkBoat Show Nov 12-14, 2024 in New Orleans is one example.
• Invite boat building company representatives to tour the Port of Richmond Case study: Boat building for offshore wind turbine construction, Brownsville, TX In 2020, global marine shipbuilding firm Keppel AmFELS began construction of a vessel called the Charybdis in the Gulf of Mexico that will be used to install offshore wind turbines. This vessel which measures 472’ long, 184’ wide, and 38’ deep, will contain 14,000 tons of steel, 10,000 tons of which will come from Alabama and West Virginia steel suppliers. Domestic construction of the Charybdis helps make the vessel Jones Act compliant, a federal requirement dating back to 1920 that requires goods shipped between U.S. ports to be transported on ships built, owned, and operated by United States citizens or permanent residents.

This Gulf of Mexico shipyard contains a sheltered waterfront area, a modern steel processing plant, and a massive drydock area with three docks that measure 1,247’, 502’ and 974’ in length.

As part of the Just Transition from fossil fuels to a clean energy future, the boat design adapted two oil-rig technologies for wind-turbine installation. One is the jack-up system, whose legs dig into the seafloor and raise the vessel as much as 1443
52 150 feet above the water’s surface; a wind-turbine vessel needs four jack-up legs to handle the stresses of moving heavy equipment around. The ship has also adapted a telescoping crane that is 500’ long, designed to be able to push wind-turbine parts to greater heights.

The overall project cost, inclusive of construction and commissioning and excluding financing costs, is estimated to be around $500 million. Financing for the vessel has been arranged through a lease financing agreement with leading global banks. Dominion Energy Virginia has folded the cost of leasing – not building – Charybdis into its request before state utility regulators seeking the go-ahead for the entire $9.8 billion wind farm project.

The vessel is expected to create nearly 700 direct construction jobs. The Charybdis is on track to be completed late 2024 or early 2025 and has already been booked by joint partners Orsted and Eversource for the Revolution and Sunrise wind projects.

22. Boat maintenance and repair
Marine mechanics for commercial vessels and ferry boats are in high demand.

Onboard a ship, marine mechanics are responsible for maintaining and repairing electrical and mechanical equipment.

Classroom and on-the-job training prepare students to work on different types of boats. Organizers are currently looking for locations for a network of training facilities.

Scope: Set up a training center
Project Managers: Bobby Winston and Sal Vaca, Working Waterfront Funding: $5 million has already been raised
Next step: Decide on a location for the training center Case study: Training and maintenance for offshore wind vessels, Virginia A growing need within the burgeoning offshore wind industry is for trained boat maintenance and repair workers. High winds, rough seas, and corrosive salt water are tough on ocean-going vessels. As offshore wind development ramps up in the 1444
53 U.S., the industry will need more skilled and trained workers to perform mechanical, electrical, and structural repair and maintenance.

The Virginia Ship Repair Association’s Marine Trade Training (MTT) program offers training in association with the Community College Workforce Cooperative and Tidewater Community College. Skills of the MTT program are in high demand – welding, coatings, sheet metal, pipe fitting, structural fitting, marine electrical, and machining – yielding a 90% placement rate for students after graduation.

These skills will be even more in demand as Virginia’s largest utility, Dominion Energy, builds out more of its offshore wind project 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. Expected to be completed in 2026, this project will contain 176 Siemens Gamesa 14.7 MW wind turbines that provide enough clean electricity to power 660,000 homes.

The types of offshore wind vessels that will require repair and maintenance include:
• Crew Service Vessel
• Service Operation Vessel
• Survey Vessels - Environmental, Geotechnical, Geophysical • Cable Laying Vessels - Export Cable Vessel, Shallow Water Export Cable Vessel, Nearshore Export Cable Landing Support Barge, Export and Array Cable Support Vessel, Cable Crossing Construction Vessel, Array Cable Laying Vessel, Anchor Handling Vessel, Cable Trenching Vessel
• Development, Construction, and Decommissioning - Floating Heavy Lift Foundation Vessels, Wind Turbine Installation Vessels, Feedering Spread:

Barges and Ocean Going Tugs, Supply Chain Transportation, Rock Dumping/Scour Protection Vessel, Dredging Vessels, Safety/Scout Vessel, Noise Mitigation Vessel, Accommodation Vessel, Construction Support Vessel Routine inspections of these vessels are conducted during dry dock periods and while the ship is in operation whereupon work needing to be done by skilled workers on the ship’s mechanical, electrical, and structural components is discovered.
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54 23. Shoreline ecotourism
Along Richmond’s coast, Point Pinole Regional Shoreline park provides a home to more than 100 animal species, including deer, monarch butterflies, hawks, and owls. Salt marshes along the shoreline bluffs host a variety of shorebirds and crabs.

The park has rich birdlife, including many ducks and shorebirds and the endangered black rail. Many migratory bird species are also seen, as the park is located on the Pacific Flyway.

Scope: Point Pinole Regional Shoreline (2,315 acres) and Point Molate (276 acres) are both parks that are pleasant spots for hiking, picnicking, kayaking, horseback riding, bicycling, fishing, and crabbing, while taking in the beautiful views of the San Pablo Bay. Ecotourism opportunities include recreation rentals of kayaks, bicycles, and horses, as well as naturalist-led and downloadable guided tours about wildlife, natural features, historical places, and sacred sites of the Ohlone people.

Champion: to be decided
Funding:
• Measure WW funding from the East Bay Regional Park District • Philanthropy
First step: Reach out to leaders of local and regional environmental non-profits, parks, and wildlife management organizations: Point Pinole Regional Shoreline, East Bay Regional Parks District, The Watershed Project, Groundwork Richmond, Lindsay Wildlife Experience and others to define scope of the project.

Case study: Virginia Bird and Wildlife Trail education and outreach program The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) wants to make it easier for visitors to see birds and other wildlife at 65 natural spots throughout the state.

People planning a trip to walk a nature trail, paddle a river, or enjoy a scenic overlook can visit the DWR’s Virginia Bird and Wildlife Trail (VBWT) website to learn about natural features and wildlife spotted at each location. Once at their destination, visitors will find signage and printed guides.

The VBWT system connects with eBird and iNaturalist websites, where visitors to each trail can see which birds or other wildlife have been spotted in the area. 1446
55 Visitors can also report their own sitings of wildlife to eBird and iNaturalist websites to add to collective knowledge about the area. VBWT also works with Birdability, an education, outreach and advocacy organization working to ensure the birding community and the outdoors are welcoming, inclusive, safe and accessible to everybody. They focus on people with mobility challenges, blindness, or low vision, chronic illness, intellectual or developmental disabilities, mental illness, and those who are neurodivergent, deaf or hard of hearing or who have other health concerns. Developing the skill of identifying wild birds in their natural habitat based on their physical features, their songs, and where they live can be joyful and should be accessible to all.

Figure 14: Environmental education at a national park

Source: National Park Service
For wildlife enthusiasts, the state hosts 400 species of birds, 150 species of mammals, 150 amphibians, 250 fish, and hundreds of reptiles such as butterflies, dragonflies, and other invertebrates. Along the Atlantic Coast, Virginia has brown pelicans and bottlenose dolphins while the Appalachian Mountains contain bald eagles and black bear.

A network of staff and volunteers bolster a high quality, reliable, relevant and highly visible trail program. DWR employs Watchable Wildlife Biologists, has a Virginia 1447
56 Master Naturalist Program and Adopt a Trail program, and supports volunteers.

The state is divided into chapters with chapter members, site managers, and site visit liaisons.

Visitors and volunteers have the opportunity to hone their wildlife and plant identification skills. Birders, wildlife viewers, hikers, and nature enthusiasts benefit from a valuable statewide ecotourism resource.

24. Green hydrogen
In the future, green hydrogen could store energy to use for energy-intensive activities that are difficult to decarbonize such as long-haul aviation, long-haul trucking, steel manufacturing, and ammonia manufacturing for fertilizer. Hydrogen could be a match for these activities due to the advantages it offers: a more compact propulsion system with rapid refueling times and a long travel range.

Green hydrogen in Richmond would need to pass three important hurdles, though:
health and safety concerns, community approval, and demonstration that additional renewable energy will be sourced to provide the electricity needed for green hydrogen production. More than 96% of hydrogen production is currently derived from non-renewable sources, and an approach of initially using natural gas to manufacture brown hydrogen until more renewable energy is available may not be acceptable to well-connected and concerned community-based organizations. In addition, community disapproval about hydrogen’s explosivity and flammability is anticipated and must be addressed, perhaps by co-locating green hydrogen production offshore at future wind turbines platforms that will be built 20 miles off the coasts of Humboldt and Morro Bay.

Scope: to be determined
Champion: to be determined
Funding:
• Federal government
o U.S. Department of Energy
• State government
o California Air Resources Board
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57 ▪ H2ONSITE, Distributed Clean Hydrogen Production with Onsite End Use (solicitation will be released Sept 30, 2024)
▪ Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund grants
• Private investment - Chevron
Next steps:
• Read Rocky Mountain Institute’s Clean Energy 101: the Colors of Hydrogen, Stanford University Civil and Environmental Engineering professor Mark Jacobson’s papers on green hydrogen, MIT Climate’s Climate Portal (How Green is Hydrogen?), and the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (sciencedirect.com) to learn terms, trends, and challenges. • Attend green hydrogen conferences such as World Hydrogen Week in Copenhagen Sept 30 – Oct 4, 2024, Industrial Decarbonization in Pittsburg Oct 1-2, 2024, Green Hydrogen Summit West in Seattle Feb 26-27, 2025, and Hydrogen Technology Expo in Houston June 25-26, 2025 to learn and network.
• Meet with Raven SR and then Chevron to learn the latest developments in green hydrogen.
• Conduct workshops and a survey to find out if the community feels the benefits outweigh the health/safety hazards.

1449
58 Figure 15: Hydrogen-powered aircraft

Source: EVIA AERO
Case study: Research and development for green hydrogen, Bremerhaven, Germany Bremerhaven is a coastal city of 110,000 residents situated in Northern Germany with a deep-water river and harbor along the North Sea between the Netherlands and Denmark. During World War II, companies at the port built boats and submarines for the war effort. In the economic downturn of the 1990s and early 2000s, job losses resulted in a drop in the local population from 150,000 to 115,000.

Looking forward, City leadership conducted a strength-weakness assessment and determined their future economic growth could build on the city’s comprehensive maritime technology knowledge and a skilled workforce specializing in shipbuilding, heavy machinery design and manufacturing.

For a few decades Bremerhaven has been planning for and working toward becoming a Climate City (KlimateStadt), positioning itself as a hub of research and development for offshore wind and green hydrogen with public and private funding supporting the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Some of the 1450
59 innovative clean energy research projects happening in Bremerhaven involve offshore wind and green hydrogen for a variety of transportation applications.

Germany has already planned at least 23 major wind farms in the North Sea and another nine projects in the Baltic Sea, with the final goal of 25-30 GW, operational by 2030. In support of these projects, Fraunhofer Hydrogen Labs is studying the interaction of wind turbines with hydrolytic hydrogen production. The State of Bremen and the European Union are funding their analysis of direct onshore and offshore production of green hydrogen which has a high potential to increase the security of supply in decentralized power grids by smoothing out supply and demand peaks by means of the generation and reconversion of hydrogen.

H2OCEAN - Germany joins researchers in Spain, Denmark, Italy and the United Kingdom to develop new concepts for offshore energy: harvesting renewable wind and tidal energy plus hydrogen generation, aquaculture and environmental monitoring. Regarding the connection between renewable energy and green hydrogen, researchers are studying the conversion of renewable electrical energy generated from wind and waves into hydrogen, which is stored and transported to the mainland as a green energy carrier. This concept circumvents the need for cable transmission, which can save high investment costs and keep energy prices stable. A multi-component and fully-integrated platform to tap offshore ocean resources in a sustainable way that yields environmental and economic benefits is the goal of the project.

Flexi-Green Fuels – Bremerhaven is also a flagship test area for hydrogen technologies in the maritime transport sector. Hydrogen offers the advantages of a more compact propulsion system, with rapid refueling times and a long travel range. The Flexi-Green Fuels project studies integrated biofuel processes for competitive production of shipping fuels and green renewable jet fuel.

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City Green-Blue Project Statuses and Accomplishments

The City of Richmond and the community is continuously working to promote a competitive, sustainable, and equitable economy for all. Since the inception of this initiative, there are several green and blue initiatives and projects in Richmond.

Table 1: Status of RGBND Opportunity Report Projects

Sector # Recommended
Projects
Status Status Details
Renewable
Energy
RE1 Solar emergency
microgrids
(SEMs) at critical
community
facilities

In-progress • MCE’s Virtual Power Plant
Pilot Project
• Public Works drafted RFP
to inventory and assess
City Facilities
• City is in progress of
updating the Local Hazard
Mitigation Plan
RE2 Battery
manufacturing

Additional resources
needed

Workforce roles and
responsibilities still
need to be defined
by the industry
• City of Richmond
Employment and Training
Department is completing
exploratory steps around
workforce opportunities
RE3 Offshore wind
turbine
manufacturing
In-progress

Workforce roles and
responsibilities still
need to be defined
by the industry
• City of Richmond Port
completing exploratory
steps
Building
Electrification
& Energy
Efficiency
BE1 Building
electrification
retrofits
In-progress

Workforce
conundrum with
certifying electricians
• City application submitted
for EPA Community
Change Grant and included
workforce elements
• City’s No-Cost Solar
Program with GRID
Alternatives
• TCC Project- Resilient and
Healthy Homes
• TCC Project- Workforce
Development with
RichmondBuild
• Regional and State energy
efficiency, weatherization,
and electrification rebates
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and incentives are
available
BE2 Green accessory
dwelling units
and tiny homes
In-progress • TCC Project- ADU toolkit
• 9/24/24 City Council Item-
Electrification of new
developments
BE3 Community land
trust
In-progress • TCC Project- Community
Land Trust
Sustainable
Transportation
ST1 Destination
downtown

In-progress • TCC Project- Buy Local
• TCC Project- Business
Beautification Project
ST2 Transportation
management
association
Additional resources
needed
• West Contra Costa
Transportation Advisory
Committee
ST2 Transition to
zero-emission
vehicles
In-progress • City of Richmond released
an RFP for a consultant to
support transitioning the
City’s vehicle fleet to ZEVs
• Regional, State, and
Federal EV purchasing
incentives
Zero Waste ZW1 Building
deconstruction
firms

Additional resources
needed

ZW2 Building salvage
warehouse

Additional resources
needed

ZW3 Richmond
remakery and
fixery
In-progress • RecycleMore recently
started hosting Fix-it Clinics
ZW4 Re-entry
entrepreneurs
Additional resources
needed

ZW5 Surplus food
rescue
In-progress • RecycleMore released a
grant to support
organization rescuing food
Green
Infrastructure
& Urban
Forestry
GI1 Expanding the
tree canopy

In-progress • TCC Project- Bosque del
Barrio (Tree Planting)
GI2 Living levee In-progress • Collaboration led by Contra Costa County
Land Use LU1 Brownfields
research &
innovation hub
Additional resources
needed
• Employment and Training
currently implementing
workforce training grants in
Brownfields remediation
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• Aligns with Shoreline
Resiliency Plan
Water WW1 Blue tech
incubator and
accelerator
In-progress • City of Richmond Port
completing exploratory
steps
WW2 Port upgrades
including
electrification
In-progress • City of Richmond Port is in
the progress of updating
infrastructure
• Port Report brought to City
Council on 11/7/2024
WW3 Berthing vessels
at the port

In-progress

Port infrastructure
updates are
necessary
• City of Richmond Port
completing exploratory
steps
• Port Report brought to City
Council on 11/7/2024

WW4 Boat building

In-progress

Port infrastructure
updates are
necessary
• City of Richmond Port
completing exploratory
steps
• Alameda and Contra
Costa County
implementing HRTP
grants for Marine Trades
and Water Transportation
Careers Workforce
Training Program
WW5 Training center
for boat
maintenance and
repair
In-progress • Alameda and Contra
Costa County
implementing HRTP
grants for Marine Trades
and Water Transportation
Careers Workforce
Training Program
WW6 Shoreline
ecotourism
In-progress • City of Richmond Port
completing exploratory
steps
Other OP1 Green hydrogen Additional resources
needed

Accomplishments:
• The City’s Employment and Training Division (E & T) has connected with local green and blue businesses to discuss the creation of green and blue workforce pathways for Richmond residents.
• E & T has been awarded an approximate total of $6,175,889 from local, State, and Federal organizations to develop innovative workforce training opportunities, 1454
expand career training, and support participation of vulnerable and undeserved Richmond populations.
• E & T and RichmondBUILD continues to contract with the Construction Trades Workforce Initiative (CTWI) to strengthen structured pathways from pre- apprenticeship to employment in the building and construction trades. • In 2023, E & T graduated 49 RichmondBUILD participants • E&T through a partnership with Richmond Promise established an internship pipeline within the City of Richmond for Richmond Promise Graduates. • In 2023 alone, E & T’s YouthWORKS supported hundreds of Richmond youth with training and job placement in over 80 work sites, started to institute Metrix Learning, an online workforce training platform for all Richmond residents. • Graduation of two cohorts from the new Beautify Richmond workforce training program which provides training to formerly incarcerated residents to enter into landscaping and groundskeeping careers through a partnership between E & T, Rubicon and the Re-entry Success Center.
• E & T has been actively researching options for the expansion of the RichmondBUILD program into electrician pre-apprenticeship programs and electricians with the Electric Vehicle Certification.
• E & T actively participates in the Jobs First Initiative to seek state and Bay Area funding to continue to support green and blue workforce projects. • This multifaceted strategy reflects Richmond's commitment to sustainable development, public health, and environmental stewardship, in collaboration with agencies like the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) and the Richmond Workforce Development Board.
• Every two years the Business Development Division Economic Development publishes a San Francisco Business Times Richmond supplement, highlighting all businesses in Richmond with highlights of green and blue related businesses. • Business Development Division contracted with the BluDot platform to develop a business-friendly environment and market the City’s competitive advantage. • Business Development Division continuously visits and assists businesses in connecting to resources, relocating existing operations, connecting to workforce development, and facilitating business-business transaction. • Business Development Division annually participates and highlights a Richmond business in the Bay Area Manufacturing Week.
• A few green and blue businesses who have come to call Richmond home or have expanded in Richmond include but are not limited to OPT Marine Robotics, AI Crete, and others.
• The Port of Richmond (Port) has identified improvement areas (conduits, pull boxes, cable management equipment, and related appurtenances) necessary to electrify shore power infrastructure for vessels to connect to while berthed. • The Port has applied for grant funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration and for the Electrification, Carbon Capture, and Shore Power Program and to the Environmental Protection Agency for the Clean Ports Program: Zero-Emission Technology Deployment Competition. • The Port is in the process of switch gears and transformers to upgrade the property’s utility metering, main breaker compartment, and eventually the installation of battery backup.
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• The West Contra Costa Integrated Waste Management Authority (RecycleMore) has started in 2024 to host fix-it clinics for residents in their member cities, Richmond, San Pablo, El Cerrito, Pinole, Hercules, and Unincorporated Contra Costa County.
• Since 2007, approximately 551 Richmond homes have received solar at no cost to the resident through Environmental and Health Initiatives Division’s (EHI) partnership with the non-profit GRID Alternatives. GRID Alternatives also provides training for Bay Area residents interested in entering into a solar related career. • Published analysis on transitioning existing buildings within Richmond to all electric through technical assistance from the Department of Energy’s Communities Local Energy Action Program (LEAP) Pilot.
• Awarded approximately $500,000 in grants to support with California Senate Bill 1383.
• Environmental and Health Initiatives Division (EHI), Community Development Department, and several non-profits was awarded a $35 Million grant from the California Strategic Growth Council’s Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) Program to fund green and blue projects and workforce training in the Santa Fe, Coronado, and Iron Triangle neighborhoods to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and improve community health, also known as Richmond Rising. • The Engineering Division is starting on the two Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) bicycle and pedestrian improvement infrastructure projects on Harbour Way South and Marina Way South funded by TCC.
• The Community Development Department through TCC grant and the award of a Housing Fellow is in the process of researching and developing a Community Land Trust.
• The Planning Division through the TCC grant is in the process of developing an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) toolkit.
• Raven has received City permits for the development of a Hydrogen processing facility at the Organics Processing Facility.
• The California Energy Commission (CEC) awarded the City of Richmond, Zero Net Energy Alliance, and other partners the Advanced Energy Communities Phase I Grant as well as Phase II Grant for projects to advance Distributed Energy Resources Communities (DER), Virtual Power Plant Pilot, and Zero Net Carbon Ready Homes.
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October 1, 2024

City Council

DATE: October 1, 2024
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:

Councilmember Soheila Bana

Subject:

Iranian New Year known as Nowruz - Bana
FINANCIAL IMPACT: $3,000 - Minimal costs are expected for city services, such as traffic control, security, and public safety.

Additional expenses may include event setup (such as
fire pits or controlled bonfires), DJ, and cultural
decorations. These costs could be offset by sponsorships or partnerships with local businesses and organizations.

Budget is included in the FY 2024-25 adopted budget
account string: 01251151-400322.

PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:

Haft-Seen Table in 2023

STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:

Chaharshanbeh-Soori, an ancient Persian festival
celebrated on the eve of the last Wednesday before
Nowruz (the Persian New Year), presents an
opportunity for Richmond to celebrate cultural diversity while benefiting local businesses. The event involves
jumping over small bonfires, symbolizing the purification of the past year's ills and the welcoming of new energy for the coming year. Combined with the Nowruz
celebration, this event could attract hundreds, and
eventually thousands, of visitors from the Bay Area,
stimulating the local economy and promoting Richmond
as a vibrant community hub.

AGENDA
REPORT
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October 1, 2024
RECOMMENDED ACTION:

APPROVE the City’s celebration of Chaharshanbeh-
Soori in tandem with Nowruz, supporting the cultural
event and encouraging local food businesses to
participate in showcasing the City’s diverse culinary
offerings, and MOVE the March 18, 2025, City Council
meeting to March 11, 2025 - Councilmember Soheila
Bana (510-620-6743).

BACKGROUND:

Chaharshanbeh-Soori is a joyous celebration rooted in Iranian culture, traditionally held on the night before the last Wednesday of the Persian calendar year. Participants gather around bonfires, symbolizing the desire to cleanse oneself from the hardships of the past year and step into the New Year with renewed hope and energy.

Nowruz, the Persian New Year, is celebrated on the spring equinox, marking a new beginning for over 300 million people worldwide, including Iranians, Afghans, Kurds, and people from the Caucasus and Central Asia. By bringing Chaharshanbeh-Soori and Nowruz to Richmond, the City has the opportunity to become a regional center for this unique and vibrant cultural celebration.

DISCUSSION:

Chaharshanbeh-Soori and Nowruz have the potential to attract hundreds of attendees from across the Bay Area in their inaugural year, with the potential to grow to thousands in future years. This influx of visitors offers a significant economic opportunity for local businesses, particularly those in the food and hospitality sectors.

Events like these foster a sense of community, bringing residents and visitors together to celebrate culture, tradition, and unity.
• Economic Impact: Food vendors, restaurants, and local businesses will benefit from increased foot traffic as attendees enjoy the festivities. • Cultural Promotion: Richmond will position itself as a city that values and promotes cultural diversity, gaining visibility across the Bay Area for hosting large cultural events.
• Community Building: Chaharshanbeh-Soori encourages inclusivity, drawing participants from different ethnic backgrounds, while giving the Richmond community a chance to experience Persian culture.

This event will feature traditional music, food stalls, and family-friendly activities such as face painting, traditional dancing, and educational booths about Persian culture and history.

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October 1, 2024
Celebrating Chaharshanbeh-Soori alongside Nowruz in Richmond represents a unique opportunity to promote cultural awareness, enhance community engagement, and drive economic growth. By supporting this event, the City Council can help create a new tradition that attracts residents and visitors from all over the Bay Area, putting Richmond on the map as a destination for cultural celebrations.

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