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questions and answers from march 7, 2023

Do you have to be NYC and five boroughs based? 

  • Yes, applicants must be based within any of the five boroughs of New York City.  

Can a non-NY based organization become eligible by teaming with a NY-based organization? 

  • Yes, having organizations based outside of NYC could aid the program’s goals of including more voices and more possibilities. The benefits must be focused on NYC residents. 
  • It is encouraged that the primary partner is NYC based. 

How can we find other organizations that are interested in applying? 

  • An email with be sent to all registrants of this information session containing the contact information of other registrants. 

Will awards be prepaid to applicants before the awarded program begins or will successful applicants be reimbursed for programming expenses?  

  • The maximum single year disbursement is $300,000 per award. Awards up to $300,000 will be awarded in September 2023 in full.  
  • The maximum award amount per organization/program applying for multi-year disbursement is $900,000. Applicants awarded multi-year disbursements may not receive more than $300,000 per disbursement year. Multi-year disbursements will be made in September 2023, September 2024, and September 2025.  
  • Programs resulting from Fund disbursements should be implemented within one to three years of disbursement of the awarded amount. 

Are newly created programs that meet the Fund priorities eligible for awards or are existing programs prioritized? 

  • We welcome both and are excited to support programs that will help move the industry forward, recognizing that many of these programs may be new because this is a new industry. 

Will the fund’s awardees be given priority in Equinor’s supply chain over time, for example, hiring graduates of offshore wind training programs? 

  • They will not be given priority in a formal way. However, one of purposes of the fund is to diversify the workforce and due to the maturing nature of the industry, people who have support such as training or wraparound services are better positioned to join the workforce. 

How is the Environmental Justice Area Plan assessed and how were the geographic scope and environmental justice areas were established? 

  • Sunset Park is the area where the Equinor facility and South Brooklyn Marine Terminal project are located, and it is an environmental justice community. 
  • This Project is part of a citywide transition to green energy, so the immediate impact zone is Sunset Park, but the geographic scope is citywide.  
  • Environmental justice areas in NYC have been identified by the Mayor’s Office for Climate and Environmental Justice and the state has environmental justice areas defined but it is less inclusive than the City’s. There are NYC government resources describing environmental justice areas within the City, and are provided as a reference within the Solicitation and aren’t formally evaluated in the evaluation criteria. 
  • The Solicitation document provides criteria for this Priority:   
  • The Application clearly identifies how environmental justice areas and M/WBE, SDVOB and DBEs are incorporated into the project plan.  
  • The Application outlines an approach to engaging environmental justice areas and M/WBE, SDVOB and DBEs in achieving project outcomes.  
  • The Application demonstrates the allocation of budget and other resources to informing and involving environmental justice areas and M/WBE, SDVOB and DBEs.  

Are programs required to be executed over a three-year period, or could it be shorter? An example would be to accelerate workforce training to have personnel ready for 2025/2026 work activities.  

  • Three-year period is the outside limit – and may be shorter. 

Are there any efforts being made to ensure that jobs are given to vulnerable communities most affected by these new projects such as Sunset Park residents since they are not guaranteed priority? Will residents benefit at all? 

  • Equinor has a commitment in place to prioritize marketing and recruitment from Sunset Park.  
  • There are ongoing efforts to add to community benefits being made elsewhere in addition to this fund. 
  • Participating in the fund can be an advantage, however there are no job guarantees.