Wal-Mart Foundation Gives $5.7 Million to Green Jobs Effort

Bentonville, Ark. The Wal-Mart Foundation announced Tuesday that it will award to the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Veterans Green Jobs grants totaling $5.7 million to support the creation of green jobs in the United States.

The news comes on the heels of a newly released Global Insight study revealing that 10% of job growth in the United States is likely to be green by 2038, the fastest-growing sector in the country.

The Wal-Mart Foundation's $5 million grant to the U.S. Conference of Mayors will work to create jobs in an array of emerging green industries. In the spring of 2009, through a competitive selection process led by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, six grants will be awarded to nonprofit organizations that have a history of working with mayors to train people for green jobs.

In early 2010, three additional grants will be given to cities with newer commitments to providing green work-force training.

Additionally, the Wal-Mart Foundation is awarding nearly $750,000 to Veterans Green Jobs to support the development of four training sites, which will help veterans develop green job training skills. The training sites — which will be built in Washington, Colorado, New Mexico and Louisiana — will assist many of the nearly 2 million returned or returning military personnel facing the challenging task of reintegrating into civilian life.