2022 Newsletter #3

Offshore Wind Workforce Development, Project Highlights, Get To Know—Andel Koester, Graduate Analyst's Research, Jobs and Events

At Karp Strategies, we spend a lot of time thinking about jobs. What is a ‘good’ job? How do people find and prepare for it? What do employers need in a skilled workforce? When an employer, a state, or a city assesses an industry, how does it prioritize access to training programs? Simply put: jobs and workforce development are key to our firm’s work in community economic development and strategic planning.

Developing the future workforce is critical to the continued growth of the U.S.’ nascent offshore wind (OSW) industry. Just how to go about building this workforce was a frequent topic for discussion at the recent Business Network for Offshore Wind’s 2022 International Offshore Wind Partnering Forum (IPF), and for good reason. OSW promises employment across education and skill levels from construction labor and engineering to procurement and administration to assembly and maintenance. Preparing local communities for these jobs - and ensuring that investments flow to local residents - is essential to carry out a just transition to a clean energy economy. Principal Jeff Lee Romero and CEO Rebecca Karp participated in the IPF’s Workforce Development Summit, and appreciated the opportunity to engage with practitioners from around the country. Their number one takeaway? More funding is needed for dedicated and purposeful outreach and engagement to build awareness of careers, jobs, and training programs in the OSW industry. Any future programming needs to match funding resources with support for outreach and marketing.

We confidently make this recommendation because Karp Strategies has been working on this aspect of OSW since 2019. More recently, in August 2021, we helped NYSERDA launch the Offshore Wind Youth Action Program, a first-of-its-kind curriculum for middle- and high school-aged students to learn about and get involved with OSW. Currently, we are supporting NYSERDA in developing a website to provide job seekers, prospective employers, and training partners with the latest information to engage with OSW workforce development opportunities in New York State. Through these and other projects, we are excited to shape the future OSW workforce.

Karp Strategies has been lucky to kick off over 12 projects in 2022, running up and down the East Coast, and spanning key services including economic development, offshore wind, and strategic planning. Check out photos from this work, including in Hartford, CT, Jacksonville, FL, New Rochelle, NY, and the Hudson Valley—among others. And stay tuned for more detailed updates in future newsletters!

Images (clockwise from top left): DRI Round Five—Ossining, New Rochelle Kiosk Stakeholder Engagement, Jacksonville Emerald Trail, Hartford-Brainard Airport Visioning Plan, DDC Red Hook Coastal Resiliency, NYSERDA Tier 4 Project Support

As a director at Karp Strategies, Andel leads the firm’s work with Equinor, a global energy company developing one of the U.S.’s most significant OSW projects. In true KStrat fashion, Andel approaches her day-to-day client and team management from a multi-faceted perspective, driven by her previous work with Bloomberg Philanthropies and the civic tech start-up, mySidewalk. Andel’s work is grounded in data and a belief that evidence-based policy must be the answer to society’s most pressing challenges. Learn more about Andel’s perspective on data, partnerships, and reshaping cities in a short interview on our blog. And if you’re ever in the market for a theater recommendation, Andel should be your first call.

To complete their graduate programs—and before joining us full time very soon!—Graduate Analysts Danielle Roberts and Erik Strand presented their theses for the Masters of Science in Urban Planning Program at Columbia University this spring. In advance of their formal presentations, Danielle and Erik treated the entire Karp Strategies’ team to a lunch and learn presentation where we got an in-depth understanding of their work.

Danielle’s thesis, titled “That’s RAD? Nuance, Complexity, and the Future of U.S. Public Housing,” examined the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program, also known as the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) program in NYC. The RAD program gives public housing authorities the ability to diversify the financing and management of properties in order to address deferred maintenance. Danielle used a snowball sampling technique to interview stakeholders about the program and applied a clustering algorithm to study RAD’s effectiveness. As the title suggests, the results were nuanced and complex. Danielle’s thesis will be available on the Columbia University Libraries website soon.

Erik's research, “Subsidizing Gentrification?: Neighborhood Change and the Expansion of the 421a Geographic Area,” focused on the 421-a tax exemption. He identified that, despite the program's high cost, the current literature lacks a comprehensive examination of the potential link to gentrification and inequality in New York City. To fill this gap, Erik employed a mixed-methods analysis of 421-a’s effectiveness as an affordable housing policy and its impacts on NYC neighborhood change. His findings suggest that 421-a directly accelerates the emergence of income inequality and unaffordable housing in New York. Read more about Erik’s thesis here.

We look forward to watching Erik and Danielle continue to apply such rigorous analysis as they begin full-time positions at Karp Strategies.

As we continue to grow, Karp Strategies is looking for a Director of Real Estate Development and Market Analysis. A full description is available here. Please help us to spread the word.

The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) is hiring a Director of Operations and Development. This role is an excellent opportunity for someone to demonstrate and further develop the breadth of skills needed to grow into an executive role in the nonprofit world. Details are available here.

Join Karp Strategies’ CEO Rebecca Karp and Director Andel Koester for New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, Learning from the Experts webinar, Wednesday, June 22, 2022, 1:00–2:00 PM

Urban Institute, Embedding Equity in Public Space: The Community First Toolkit Launch, Thursday, May 19, 2022, 4:00 PM–5:15 PM

The Waterfront Alliance, 2022 Water Front Conference, Tuesday, May 24, 2022 8:45 AM–5:30 PM

Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation, 2022 Sunset Swing, Wednesday, June 8, 2022, 5:30–9:00 PM

Workforce Professionals Training Institute, Women and the Workforce: Rising to Meet the Moment Fundraiser Reception, Wednesday, June 8, 2022, 6:30–8:30 PM