Los Angeles Partnership Empowers Today’s Youth to Explore Tomorrow’s Workforce Opportunities on Multibillion dollar LAX Train Project

    Nov. 8, 2017
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    LAX Connecting Alliance (LAXCA), a joint-venture led by OHL Infrastructure, Inc., has fully embraced Los Angeles World Airport’s (LAWA) inclusivity goals for the Automated People Mover (APM) Project, the first contract of its kind in the history of LA. The LAX APM project will deliver a system to connect passengers from a Consolidated Rent-A-Car Center (CONRAC) to an Intermodal Transportation Facility (ITF) and then to the Central Terminal Area of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

    The LAXCA team is committed to creating pathways for success for local residents on this Project and on future construction projects in the LA area.  The Solis Group (TSG), a principal team member, is taking a creative approach to workforce development and inclusion through a partnership with the Challengers Boys and Girls Club in Los Angeles.

    This partnership will positively impact the youth in the greater Los Angeles area with career training, job shadowing and project site tours on local infrastructure and transportation projects. This partnership not only signifies TSG’s commitment to the region but also underscores their valuable role on the LAXCA team as an inclusion and workforce development consultant.

    LAXCA is one of the final three teams bidding on the Automated People Mover (APM) Project. TSG is supporting the LAXCA team through Inclusivity Consulting Services including authoring the team’s Inclusivity Plan and Workforce Development Plan, producing and hosting outreach events, and participating in team meetings with LAWA to discuss the team’s overall approach to Inclusivity for the LAX APM project. Both workforce development and training, along with inclusivity and business outreach, are priority goals for LAWA.

    As a small business in Los Angeles, TSG focuses on making high level impact at the local level. The LAXCA team has focused on the greater Los Angeles community to provide significant opportunities to local youth in historically underserved communities. They aim to broaden the participating youths’ perspective by introducing them to career opportunities within the transit industry that they may not have previously considered, including construction, engineering, planning, permitting and compliance, government relations, procurement, project management, and more.

     “The Inclusivity work that TSG is doing reflects LAXCA’s understanding and investment in workforce development especially in the neighborhoods surrounding this project. TSG brings not only their expertise on disadvantaged business outreach and utilization, but also helps to ensure the project’s community impact through larger youth education programs,” says Tim Young, OHL Infrastructure.  “Our team believes it’s vital to prepare community members, of all ages, for the opportunity to take part in this regional mega-project. This work includes early workforce development programs that introduce new career possibilities to youth who might not otherwise hear about these opportunities.”

    The LAXCA team hosted a number of Inclusivity / Workforce Development outreach events over the summer to connect with small businesses in the community and local residents. TSG serves as a program management consultant to both owners and contractors on public works projects. The Solis Group is also supporting community workforce development through the LAXCA team’s mentor-protégé commitment.  The mentor-protégé program pairs industry experts at the multi-national firms on the team with smaller local businesses.  These partnerships provide peer-to-peer mentoring, skills development, strategies for procurement support, and capacity building for the smaller businesses.