Workforce WorksBuild 1- Make It Right

October 2010 through March 2011Lower 9th Ward, New Orleans, Louisiana

Prepared for Workforce Works, L.L.C. by Branford Durand, L.L.C. March 2011Photographs courtesy of Byron Bishop and Lena Clark of Workforce Works, L.L.C.

Prepared for Workforce Works, L.L.C. by Branford Durand, L.L.C. March 2011

Page 3

The Lower 9th Ward now has 28 new homes...

Prepared for Workforce Works, L.L.C. by Branford Durand, L.L.C. March 2011

Page 4

What is Workforce Works?

Workforce Works offers partici-pants an increasingly marketable skill set and creates highly desirable jobs

in lower-income communities.

What is Workforce Works’ Purpose?

It is the intent of Workforce to

contribute to the training and devel-opment of the next generation of

“green” builders. Workforce Works recruits and educates a local work-force from the local community - the

Target Redevelopment Zone, allowing participants to gain on-the-job training

from industry leaders. Workforce Works integrates civic and community

engagement with hard work ethic to challenge participants while encourag-ing and supporting continual green

construction education. The Work-force Works experience bolsters re-

sponsibility, pride, confidence, team-work and stewardship within the community.

How Does Workforce Works

Recruit?

Workforce Works prescreens pro-

spective participants for basic qualifi-cations before they reach the applica-

tion process. If they pass this initial basic qualification, Workforce Works

extends the offer to complete the ap-plication process. The initial applica-tion is followed by a panel interview

process that determines an individ-ual’s mindset regarding the program.

It is a tough interview and evaluation process. Approximately twenty-five percent of prospective participants

meet the minimal standards to be Workforce Works program partici-

pants. Those that make it through already have a sense of pride. This is necessary if a true transformation of

lives is to occur.

The Workforce Works Program

Prepared for Workforce Works, L.L.C. by Branford Durand, L.L.C. March 2011

Page 5

Workforce Works Targets Special Populations

•Persons with disabilities

•Single parents

•Socially/economically disadvantaged

•Financially disadvantaged (Section 3)

•Educationally disadvantaged (to include ESL)

Snapshot of Build 1 Demographics : 36 Total Participants

• Women: 7• Men: 29

• Target Age Range (21-28): 24

• African American: 31

• Hispanic: 2

• Caucasian: 2

• Pacific Islander: 1

• Financially Disadvantaged: 33

• Socio-economically Disadvantaged: 35

• Educationally Disadvantaged: 7

Workforce Works Teaches...

• Heavy Machinery

• HVAC

• Interior/Exterior Painting

• Electrical (Rough-In and Advanced)

• Plumbing (Rough-In and Advanced)

• Siding

• Flooring

• Erosion Control

• Landscaping

How does Workforce Teach?

• Demonstrate skill (in person or via instructional video)

• Hands on (with supervision)

• Hands on (unsupervised)

• Tools and process - task quiz (performed at random by

supervisors)

• Written Training Assessment (end of program)

• Certification of skills (signed by teaching contractor)

Prepared for Workforce Works, L.L.C. by Branford Durand, L.L.C. March 2011

Page 6

The ProjectIn October 2010, Byron Bishop and his Workforce

program undertook the task of constructing 30 LEED Platinum Certified homes in the Lower 9th Ward - a neighborhood most devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Through a partnership with Egan Construction Man-agement, L.L.C. and its leader Ben Egan, Sr., socially

and economically disadvantaged Orleans and St. Ber-nard Parish residents were put to work, learning how to implement the newest “green” construction techniques

and technologies. In addition to building homes for families displaced

more than five years after the storm, this unique en-deavor was also an opportunity for Make It Right to de-liver on its promise to build state of the art “green”

homes for Lower 9th Ward residents, while reducing construction costs.

With these primary objectives in mind - 1. hiring and providing training in “green” building techniques to economically disadvantaged residents of the Lower 9th

Ward, particularly within the 16-block Target Redevel-opment Zone, and St. Bernard Parish; and 2. complet-

ing 30 LEED Platinum Certified homes in the Target Re-development Zone in 90 work days (or 5 months) while reducing associated labor costs by 50% - Byron Bishop

and his team set out to revolutionize “green” construc-tion and community workforce development.

The Lower 9th WardBuild 1 was a partnership between Workforce Works

and Make It Right to construct 30 LEED Platinum Certi-fied homes in the Lower 9th Ward over a five month pe-

riod. As the project took off, it became clear that Work-force Works was providing essential services to Lower 9th Ward residents beyond the construction of new

homes - the build was extended to 6 months, so Work-force could undertake more Lower 9th Ward tasks.

Yes, Workforce Works program participants and staff worked on building new constructions, but they also performed erosion control, street clean up, oper-

ated a neighborhood recycling center, performed land-scaping, and managed resident requests - all to the

benefit of the Lower 9th Ward Community at large.

In addition to providing such services to the com-munity, Workforce Works employed and trained Lower

9th Ward residents who are now equipped with market-able and essential skills that will help them become high demand recruits in the construction industry.

Workforce Works Accomplishments Workforce Works saved Make It Right more than $1,900,000 over the course of this project. The scope of the build was reduced from 30 to 28 homes, and the program’s budget for operations on this 28-home build was established at $2,319,004. This fig-ure was based on the projected cost of unskilled and lower-skilled labor associated with constructing the homes – $719,004 for this labor, as well as the labor costs of performing various construction activities asso-ciated with Make It Right’s “green” techniques and community preservation initiatives - Lower 9th Ward. These costs were estimated to be $1.6M for this par-ticular build. Through March 25, 2011, construction is substantially complete on 28 homes - 26 of which will turned over to homeowners on April 1, 2011, the re-maining two homes turned over by April 8, 2011. The cost of Workforce Works operations during this build – October 2010 to March 2011 – totals $333,170. This figure includes work performed on all homes, not just those in this 28-home build, plus “Lower 9th Ward” activities, as well as administrative expenses. The pro-gram costs a fraction of the budgeted funds, and com-pleted its dual mission within the timeline established by the project stakeholders.

Overall savings equaled $1,985,835, meaning Workforce Works cut 85.6% of its projected budget.

Build 1 - Make It Right

In addition to an increased “Lower 9th Ward” workload, Work-

force Works also performed a significant amount of work on ad-

dresses that were not associated with this build, providing support

to complete homes where construction began in a previous MIR

build. Comparatively, Workforce Works logged 6,410.5 hours (or

56% of direct labor hours) on the 28 homes which comprised this

build; 1,812 hours (16%) on Lower 9th Ward activities; and 3,220

direct labor hours (28%) on homes outside the scope of the build.

Prepared for Workforce Works, L.L.C. by Branford Durand, L.L.C. March 2011

Page 7

How is Workforce Works 85% more cost efficient?

Workforce Works participants have different motivations. Tradi-

tional unskilled construction labor, paid hourly through a contractor or

sub-contractor, is motivated only by the prospect of accumulating as many hours as possible, without

regard for quality or efficiency of the work performed. Workforce partici-

pants arrive on the site ready to re-ceive on-the-job training in trades, which facilitate personal and profes-

sional development. And, although Workforce hourly pay rates are around 50% of the

compensation normally paid to unskilled construction laborers, the starting pay rates are competitive and adequately supplement the value inherent in the level

and amount of training the workers receive. Workforce’s management has different motivations.

Workforce does not overextend itself by taking on multi-ple projects concurrently. Workforce focuses on project completion just as much as it does training and devel-

opment of the local labor pool. When Workforce is con-tracted for a project, the organization commits its full

complement of resources to completing the project within the established timeline and under the anticipated budget. Once Workforce is engaged in a build, successful per-

formance and completion of the project become the un-wavering focus of Workforce’s management team.

Workforce Works is able to achieve these seemingly amazing results by reducing the cost of unskilled and skilled labor throughout

all phases of the construction project. Work-force recruits individuals with minimal experi-

ence, puts them to work performing basic construction activities, and trains them to per-form activities requiring increasing levels of

skill as the project progresses. This structure not only reduces the overall costs of the build,

but also facilitates better management of cash flows in financing a project of this magnitude.

The budget figures were presented by Jon Sader, MIR Construction Superintendent, and are

based on MIR’s actual historical costs for building similar homes in a build of similar scope.

The revised budget for this project was released in January 2011 to reflect the increased

“Lower 9th Ward” responsibilities which Workforce Works assumed as this build progressed.

The cost figures presented as Workforce Works operating expenses were recorded and main-

tained by Workforce Works personnel. However, payroll was managed by ECM through

January 2010, and thereafter internally by MIR human resources staff. Branford Durand,

L.L.C. performed an audit of the payroll process as it existed in November 2010. The pro-

cedures included verifying the hours recorded in the time tracking spreadsheets prepared by

Lena Clark with hard-copy timesheets prepared by team leaders and the payroll records

from ECM and its payroll processor, Paychex.

Program participants received starting wages of $10/hour, which wage was

increased for most participants to $12/hour in January 2011. Although all

participants did not receive $2.00 increases, the figures presented in this report

assume all participants did receive such increase. This conservatism is appropri-

ate considering the inaccessibility of payroll records once MIR began managing

the payroll process in January 2011. Actual costs for this period between Janu-

ary 31, 2011 and February 25, 2011 are very likely lower than represented in

this report. Moreover, only 10 Workforce participant contracts were renewed

through the end of the build. From February 28, 2011 to March 25, 2011, ten

participants were earning a wage of $14.00/hour.

Note the Lower 9th Ward costs of $1.6M. There is some ambiguity

surrounding this figure for several reasons: Make It Right decided to

increase the workload of Workforce Works (increase the budget al-

lowance) for these activities at the midway point of the program;

accurate historical cost figures were not available to Workforce Works

for comparison; and, the increase in breadth of new activities classi-

fied as Lower 9th Ward. The $1.6M figure, as provided by Jon Sader,

serves as the comparative basis for the savings analysis.

The results of the substantive audit procedures were

presented in the mid-program report and are avail-

able upon request. The findings of the tests indi-

cate that the hours worked by Workforce Works

participants are accurately reflected by the time

tracking spreadsheets maintained and updated by

Workforce Works administrative personnel.

Prepared for Workforce Works, L.L.C. by Branford Durand, L.L.C. March 2011

Page 8

Workforce Works Training and Development

Over the course of the six-month build, Workforce Works

employed 36 people from the New Orleans community to

assist in the construction of 28 LEED Platinum Certified homes in the Lower 9th Ward. Work-

force’s stated mission is to pro-vide training to acquire market-

able skills in trades to people of disadvantaged backgrounds – describing the predominate

demographic in the Make It Right target redevelopment zone. Ninety-seven percent (35 of 36) of Workforce par-

ticipants could be identified as belonging to a “special population.” Several participants were born and raised, and 14 continue to reside in the Lower 9th Ward.

The average Workforce participant in the Make It Right Build amassed over 650 hours on-the-job training,

learning valuable and marketable trades such as electri-cal installation, plumbing, landscaping, and roofing. The day-to-day performance of participants is evaluated

based on several metrics – oral assessment at the mid-way point, written examination at project completion,

and independent evaluation by an experienced contrac-tor to earn the Certification of Advanced Skills Training. Eight Workforce participants earned the Certification

for Advanced Skills Training in electrical, and another participant obtained the Advanced Skills Training plumb-

ing certification. Several individuals demonstrated natu-ral management ability, as well as the aptitude to per-form in the skilled construction trades. These partici-

pants took full advantage of their opportunities to lead our construction teams – four new Team Leaders were

promoted and trained to replace the three Team Leaders who became Construction Supervisors. Ultimately, as of March 25, 2011, sixteen Workforce

Build 1 Alumni are employed, have secured offers of em-ployment, or have enrolled in college after matriculating

through the Workforce Works program. Another 20 local residents have acquired highly marketable job skills spe-cific to the emerging “green” construction industry. And,

the Lower 9th Ward has 28 new homes.

The program started with four team leaders earning $12.00/hour. In January

2011, three of these individuals were promoted to Construction Supervisor and

began earning $17.50/hour, and were replaced by participants receiving promo-

tions to become Team Leaders. From January 2011 through the program’s end,

there were three Construction Supervisors earning $17.50/hour and four Team

Leaders earning $13.00/hour. Participants were paid as employees, and the ap-

propriate employer withholding taxes are calculated as part of the cost of the

labor. Other Workforce Works program personnel were compensated as inde-

pendent contractors, and thus no employer tax liability was incurred for this labor.

All personnel worked 40-hour weeks, which is reflected in the figures presented in

this document.

Administrative costs decreased in January 2011 due

to a reduction in staff – one member resigned in

order to go back to college, the other became a full-

time staffer at Egan Construction Management.

However, the remaining administrative staffer re-

ceived a pay increase from $15.00/hour to

$17.50/hour.

March 2011 direct costs figures – participant labor –

is calculated as the total estimated labor required on

the 28 homes in this build – 696 hours – multiplied by

$13.00 per hour. Three of the four Team Leaders

will continue to work with Make It Right until the end

of the build, April 8, 2011 – the last day of Workforce

operations at the site is March 25, 2011.

A $200.00 bonus for each participant earning the

Certificate of Advanced Skills Training was

budgeted and is included in the cost figures rep-

resented in this report. Nine participants earned

these certificates as March 25, 2011.

"Just seeing these guys 'get it' and realize that nobody in this world is going to give you anything...you have to earn it and by earning it you have to invest in yourself and you have

to believe that you can do something; that you can go study or learn a specific trade and

perfect it to the best of your ability."-Robert Armstrong, Green Team Supervisor

Prepared for Workforce Works, L.L.C. by Branford Durand, L.L.C. March 2011

Page 10

Workforce Works!

"This program really changed my life. I never knew anything like this existed. I thought life was going to be just one thing like you're not going to learn, nobody over you is ever going to teach you anything. They're just going to hoard the information so they can keep their job...but here it just wasn't like that....They're going to give you the knowledge and say ‘I want to help you to take my job. I want to help you get further than where I am.’"-Corey White, Orange Team Supervisor

"It was weird for me at first because I am a woman and I don't come from the same community or the same culture so I was a little hesitant about whether or not I would be able to actually earn their respect. But they've been awe-some- all of them- they are 'wearing their shirt" like we would say in Argentina. They are very proud of their purple shirt."-Valentina Lostalo, Purple Team Supervisor

"When I first came here I had no patience, whatso-ever, and for me to stand there and teach someone else how to operate a piece of equipment…wasn't easy for me…I have really developed patience."-Jermaine Frazier, Purple Team Leader

"Some days I came to work a little low, a little angry, and they lifted up...We just talked about it, joked about it, told me how I could pre-vent it or how I could address it. It's like a big family here."-Dewen Battiste, Orange Team

"I love plumbing! Once I learned, they actually put me on a project by myself and it turned out fine, I had no flaws. From what I've been taught, I can do it on my own now!"-Nolan Alexis, Green Team

"I found myself on my hands and knees on Prieur Street cleaning out the drains and I look around and I notice that this is my old neighborhood [that I'm] actually involved in rebuilding...and I thought about who I was before Katrina and the things I was into in these same streets...and now I found myself on my hands and knees working, trying to help...I would have to say that was one of my best moments." -Terence Craig, Orange Team Leader

Prepared for Workforce Works, L.L.C. by Branford Durand, L.L.C. March 2011

Page 11

Advanced Skills Certifications

Nine of Workforce Works Build 1 participants will be receiving Certificates of Advanced Training:

•Jermaine Frazier has become a skilled leader, teacher and heavy machinery operator .

•Terrence Craig is rebuilding his own neighborhood and has ex-celled as a leader.

•Terrelle Knighten has excelled in HVAC and is currently em-ployed by Peppo Brothers.

•Dewen Battiste, at age 20, is the youngest of the Workforce par-ticipants to earn the Advanced Electrical Skills Certification.

•William Jackson earned his High School Diploma while partici-pating in Workforce Works.

•Dorian Donald will soon complete his certification in Auto Me-chanics and is interested in starting landscaping business.

•Earl Guy excelled in heavy machinery operation; and has en-rolled in college courses since his participation in Workforce Works.

•Ryan Williams is currently employed by Egan Construction Management, L.L.C.

•Nolan Alexis was the sole Workforce participant to earn the Ad-vanced Plumbing Skills Certification.