New York Construction Report staff writer
Rochester Mayor Malik D. Evans joined residents, families, instructors and community partners to celebrate 11 graduates of the city’s Brownfields Environmental Skills Training (BEST) Program.
Graduates are the second cohort to complete the program in 2026, bringing the total number of Rochester residents who have graduated from BEST to 66 since the program began in 2024.
BEST provides tuition-free, hands-on training for Rochester residents seeking careers in environmental remediation and construction. The five-week program includes 250 hours of training and provides industry-recognized certifications designed to prepare participants for employment in the environmental construction field.
“Today is about celebrating the graduates and the people who helped them get here,” Evans said. “Completing 250 hours of intensive training takes commitment, discipline and determination. It also takes support.”
BEST is the only EPA Brownfields Job Training program in New York state, according to the city, and is among the few programs nationally offering a total of 10 U.S. Department of Labor-recognized licenses and certifications related to environmental construction and regulated materials handling.
The program is designed to provide skills that can lead to careers in environmental cleanup and construction while helping address the need for trained workers in those industries.
“We are proud of what these graduates have accomplished and excited about the opportunities ahead of them,” Evans said.
BEST builds on the city’s Rochester’s Environmental Job (REJob) Training Program, which graduated 192 Rochester residents and created pathways into environmental remediation and construction careers.
While REJob focused primarily on entry-level construction opportunities, BEST provides more advanced training intended to prepare participants for managerial and other higher-level positions in environmental construction.
The program is funded through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields Job Training initiative. Rochester received a $500,000 EPA Brownfields Job Training grant in January 2023, bringing total EPA funding for the city’s BEST program to more than $1.1 million.
Information about the BEST program and applications is available through the City of Rochester’s website.
