By Amy Yee | Aug 20, 2025

It’s significant as the state’s construction industry struggles to fill jobs and gears up for more expansion under the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, which sets a goal to fuel Illinois entirely by clean energy by 2050.

Students in the 548 Foundation Clean Energy training program build a mock roof as part of their education to enter the solar industry. | Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times

Programs to prepare workers for skilled trades apprenticeships have significantly boosted the number of women and people of color in Illinois’ construction workforce and also yield a big return on investment, according to a report released Wednesday.

In Illinois, enrollment in pre-apprenticeship training programs since 2017 has led to a 95% and 202% jump in the number of Black and female apprentices, respectively, according to research by the nonpartisan Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Project for Middle Class Renewal.

That’s significant as the state’s construction industry struggles to fill jobs and gears up for more expansion under the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, which sets a goal to fuel Illinois entirely by clean energy by 2050.

Robert Bruno, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor and the report’s co-author, said, “As America invests in new infrastructure, energy systems and advanced manufacturing, the ability to more readily access new pockets of workforce candidates has never been more critical.”

Researchers analyzed investments and outcomes in Illinois’ two largest pre-apprentice programs: the Highway Construction Careers Training Program and the Illinois Works Pre-Apprenticeship Program, known as IL Works.

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