December 6, 2023 BGA Releases New Community Benefits Plan Guide

A new BlueGreen Alliance user guide offers a step-by-step approach to help companies create comprehensive Community Benefits Plans.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new user guide from the BlueGreen Alliance released today will give companies a leg up in the competitive process to access more than $2 trillion dollars from the federal government to revitalize and clean up U.S. manufacturing, strengthen supply chains, support clean energy development, tackle the climate crisis, create good union jobs, and deliver real benefits for communities.

The user guide includes a step-by-step approach and resources to help companies navigate the creation of comprehensive Community Benefit Plans. Some of the funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act are contingent on demonstrating a commitment to creating good jobs and career pathways for a diverse pool of workers, as well as long-term economic, social, environmental, and health benefits for communities.  

“The process to get the money in the door can be daunting but the benefits to companies, workers, communities, and our planet are undeniable,” said BlueGreen Alliance Executive Director Jason Walsh. “We want companies to make good plans, stick to them, and be rewarded for doing things the right way.” 

The user guide includes more than 100 resources on how companies can put together strong plans that: 

• Engage community and labor by defining the impacted community; identifying relevant labor unions; engaging with high-road workforce development partners; reaching out to the stakeholders; and negotiating legally binding agreements.    
• Invest in the U.S. workforce by committing to provide skills training and quality jobs that pay well and provide good benefits; avoiding worker misclassification; creating healthy, safe, and secure working conditions; and encouraging worker empowerment and representation through organizing and collective bargaining.  
• Advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) by establishing recruitment, hiring, contracting, and workplace practices that will share prosperity broadly and ensuring that the use of legally binding agreements addresses the DEIA concerns of the community.  
• Implement Justice40 to determine how your project will improve the environmental and public health conditions in disadvantaged communities (DAC). The White House describes DACs as overburdened and underserved according to census tract data on income, education, health, environmental threats, and other economic and environmental factors. Justice40 requires at least 40% of benefits from federal investments go to DACs. 

“The bottom line is the BIL, CHIPS, and Inflation Reduction Act should be the catalyst to support and bring back millions of good-paying union jobs to our nation and by working together we can ensure companies succeed and communities benefit,” said Walsh.  

Companies Succeed, Communities Benefit: A Bluegreen Alliance User Guide for Companies to Demonstrate Community Benefits in Federal Funding Applications can be found at www.bluegreenalliance.org/cbp.

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